Temptations of the Grave
by hearttorn
Summary: A re-telling of the Night Huntress books from Bones' POV. Chapters are short, but frequent, and each cover an "action" rather than an entire chapter - so you might get 20 updates out of a single chapter. Mostly in Bones' head, but some original content between him, Spade and Ian. All dialogue from the books belongs to Jeaniene Frost, as do all characters & the Night Huntress World.
1. Chapter 1

_This idea has no doubt been bandied about and even written, but this is my attempt to take on the Night Huntress books from Bones' point of view. This is written solely from Bones' point of view. Most of it is internal, just in his head, but there a few things that are referred to in the books that take place between him and Spade or him and Ian, and I will be writing them out. That will be the only original dialogue between characters. A lot of the second book will original thoughts from Bones as he is seeking Cat out. __I've broken the story up into segments of action, rather than by chapter, and they might be shorter than some on this site, but you might get 20 chapters of this story out of one from each book. __Since it is a partial re-write, there are a number of lines in every chapter that belong solely to Jeaniene Frost - I'm just borrowing them. These characters also all belong to Jeaniene Frost, as does the entire Night Huntress World I like to play in._ This little disclaimer is good for every chapter of this story, but will only appear once to save me from having to copy and paste it and save readers from having to skip it. Many thanks to the peeps over at the Night Huntress Series page on Facebook for helping me come up with the name 'Temptations of the Grave' and for encouraging me to write this!

I was sitting in the back snug in a sleazy bar in Nowhere, Ohio, head down to try and avoid detection. I'd had my eye on Devon for a few weeks, watching, learning his patterns, waiting for the perfect moment to snatch him up and grill him for information about Hennessy.

When she came and sat across from me, she was about the third bird of the night to try her luck. But, seeing as how I was trying my best to avoid detection, I didn't even bother to glance at her the first time she made her offer. Then, she did a strange thing. She reached out and stroked a finger across my hand. That caught my attention. Odd, that.

Then she blurted out, "Want to fuck?" That _really_ caught my attention. Not so much the question - I've been asked that countless times in my years - but by the way she said it. I turned back to her and truly noticed her for the first time. Flowing crimson hair, perfect pale skin, and a blush at what she had just said. Gorgeous, she was. But it was her eyes that caught my attention the most. A lovely gray shade I'd never seen before, but it was their expression that stood out the most. She was looking me over, even during her clear mortification, like she was mentally cataloging my strengths and weaknesses.

How strange. She couldn't be much over 21, and yet her eyes had the expression of steel in them. It was a shame that I couldn't take her up on her offer, or even spend some time with her, but I'd been hunting Devon for months and never been this close before. I couldn't afford to let him slip through my fingers.

"Bad timing, luv. Be a good bird and fly away, I'll find you." Oh, how I hoped that was true.

She looked a bit baffled at my refusal but left. I left the snug and went to stand in the shadows of the back wall of the bar. I saw my lovely redhead come out of the ladies', then head to the bar. Strangely enough, when Devon came in, he made his way straight over to her. A weird, scalding feeling I'd never felt before came over me. I couldn't really identify it. All I knew was it increased when she left the bar with him.

I followed them on my bike, back far enough that he wouldn't notice they were being followed. He drove her to a secluded spot by a lake, and that strange scalding feeling intensified when I thought of him with her. Suddenly though, I saw her run screaming from her the car. I tensed, ready to throw myself into the mix if necessary, when I saw one of the strangest things I've seen in all my years. Devon gave chase, and just as he was about to bite her, bugger if she didn't stake him! Then she sank his car in the lake, took him back to her truck, and chopped his bleedin' head off! She went back to an old barn of a house and buried him, whistling a merry tune.

What in the bloody hell _was_ she?


	2. Chapter 2

The next night, I went back to the same bar, strangely hoping she'd be there. Yes, I thought she was some vamp's Renfield, but I was also hoping to take her up on her offer of a shag. I hadn't been able to get her out of my head all night. I've been offered many, many shags in my life, but none stuck in my mind like she did.

I went in and headed straight to the back of the bar again, staying out of sight. Sure enough, around nine o'clock she came in, wearing a snug fitting halter top and hipster jeans. Not exactly _femme fatale_ wear, but her looks made it look sexy. She didn't wear much makeup, but with that hair, she had a Raphaelite quality to her that made her stand out and made her beautiful. But, remembering her blush from the night before, I decided to have a little fun.

"I'm ready to fuck now."

She spun around at the bar, the look on her face saying she was about to verbally rip the head off me. Then she realized who I was and that delicious blush came back to her cheeks. She fumbled about, asking if I wanted a drink, and while I refused, I mentally smiled to myself. If she'd been sent by Hennessy or some other vampire, they certainly hadn't taught her the art of seduction.

We went to the car park, and she again fumbled around, pretending to be drunk, wanting me to drive. It was clear that she expected tonight to be a repeat of last night with Devon, but she had no idea who she was dealing with when she set her sights on me - or was sent to set her sights on me, whichever the case.

We finally got in her truck and she headed straight back to the same spot Devon had taken her. The silence seemed to be getting to her, and she asked my name. Not wanting to give my identity away yet, if she didn't already know it, I didn't answer. She did though, telling me her name was Cat Raven - the most ridiculous made up name I've heard in all my years, and my best mate goes by Spade.

"Cat, hmmm? From where I sit you look more like a Kitten."

Oh, that brassed her off good and proper. She stomped on the brakes and tartly asked if I had a problem.

"No problem, pet. Are we stopped here for good? Is this where you want to shag?"

She began driving again, saying there was a spot a little further along that was prettier, not realizing that I knew from the night before that this was where she'd staked Devon.

I chuckled. "I just bet it is, pet."

When she finally stopped for good, she tried maneuvering me out of the truck - not realizing I could see the outline of her stake under her jeans. You don't live to almost 250 as a hit man without learning a few things about where to hide weapons.

"Oh no. I'll stay right here. Love to do it in a truck." I gave her a wicked grin and watched that gorgeous blush creep back across her cheeks. Whoever she worked for, they certainly hadn't given her a crash course in dirty talk, that was for certain.

"Take off your clothes. Let's see what you've got." Part of me was deliberately baiting her, trying to get her good and angry so I could get to the bottom of who sent her, and the other part of me, well, frankly, really did just want to see her with her clothes off. As many women as I've been with, as many women as I've seen nude in my life, you'd think that one more wouldn't make much difference. But somehow, this one did.

Yet she balked. Inwardly I smiled, realizing she wasn't a woman who'd strip for just anyone. Somehow, on some level, this pleased me, although I didn't quite know why. I kept goading her.

"Shy bird, are you? Didn't peg you for the type, what with walking up to me and practically begging for it. How about this? We'll do it at the same time."

So saying, I began to unbuckle my belt and undo my jeans. I saw her hands tremble as she undid the zipper on her own jeans. I hated what I was going to do next, but someone had sent her, and she'd tried her damndest - if awkwardly - to get me somewhere where she could kill me.

"Look here, luv, see what I have for you." My right hand closed around myself and I saw her eyes flicker my way, quickly shift away as her blush deepened, and, with regret, my left hand shot out.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews! It makes me want to keep writing, even though my copy of "Halfway to the Grave" keep looking at me with a very daunting expression!_

I switched her unconscious body over to the passenger side of her truck and drove to the cave. She remained solidly passed out during the trip and the entire time I stripped her to her underwear and manacled her. I was actually a little concerned I had maybe done some serious brain damage, but that thought was overcome by admiring her undressed. I've seen women in all manner of lingerie to try to impress me, or men in general, but something about her simple white cotton bra and knickers struck me as almost unbearably erotic. She wasn't trying to be sexy, she just _was_.

Under her halter top and rather baggy jeans hid a long, lean figure. She was fairly tall for a woman, around 5'8 or so, with long legs and the beginnings of a very curvy torso. I was betting that, in a few years when she finished filling out, she would be devastating. As it was, she was breathtaking. Well, if I breathed she would be.

I sat on a boulder and waited for her to wake up. It took a good bit, and when she did, a look of unmasked pain crossed her face and she immediately retched. She stretched out and realized she was shackled, then realized who her captor was, and a brief look of pure panic crossed her face before she masked it back into control.

I immediately set to work trying to find out who had sent her after me. Someone had to, knowing how close I was getting to Devon, and therefore getting to Hennessey. I've perfected the art of interrogation over the years, using a variety of methods, and I can break just about anyone. Yet I couldn't break her.

I hated having to do it, but I slapped her, trying to get her to talk. Yet this young woman, almost still just a girl, refused to cry and gave back - verbally at least - as good as she got. She startled me so much she had me laughing. Never laughed so hard during an interrogation before.

I had this odd hunch that something was different about her - she smelled like a Renfield, yet she was strong enough not to break down and confess who her boss was. Even had the stones to ask me for a drink - and clarified that it be something without clots. Sodding woman drank the last of my good whiskey, too.

Finally, I knew I would have to bite her to get control of her mind and get her to confess. I was millimeters away from biting her, my fangs scraping her skin, when I noticed a green light that wasn't coming from my eyes. I drew back, and Lucifer's bouncing balls, it was coming from _her_! i grabbed her head in shock.

"Look at your bloody eyes!"

"Don't need to see them, they change from grey to green when I get upset," she mumbled.

Bugger me dead, I thought she was full of shite when she talked about being half vampire, but only vampires had eyes that glowed green! She _had_ to be telling the truth! And if she was telling the truth about being a half-breed, that meant she was telling the truth about not having a boss...

And that meant no one had sent her to kill me...

And that meant it was just fate that dropped her in my lap, as it were...

And that meant she was meant to be mine. She just didn't know it yet.


	4. Chapter 4

Alright, so she might be meant for me, but she certainly didn't agree. _Yet._

My fiesty little Kitten had a major hangup about vampires, it was clear. Little wonder, knowing what her mum had been through and what she'd had drilled into her for the past six years. Still, practicality is my strong suit (along with my promiscuity), as well as the ability to think on my feet, and an idea came to me even as I paced in front of her, awed that I'd stumbled upon the world's only known living half-breed.

I outlined the plan for her - she'd hunt vampires I picked out for her. She'd be the bait - lure them in with that perfect skin and juicy artery of hers, and I'd be the hook - shriveling them. I knew she wouldn't spend any time with me willingly in any other way, so I came up with the only plan she'd agree to. I knew, over time, I could wear down her resistance, make her see that vampires were more than just evil deads.

I also knew that somewhere under that snarky exterior and tough emotional shell she polished, was a lonely soul who needed someone to love her unconditionally. And I, who'd never loved anyone, except my mum, found myself starting to love her, with her brash bravery, when she challenged me to a one-on-one fight in the cave. This girl was reckless, yes, but she was tough, too. Same as me. Neither one of us would back down from a fight we felt we could win.

And we were a well-matched pair. Most people had only been interested in me for my looks, not seeing the person behind them, and she was stunning but unaware of it, not knowing how to use them to her advantage. Somehow, I had to make her see that she was beautiful, _all_ of her, the parts she shunned as well as the parts she didn't. We complimented each other perfectly.

But, first things first. Kitten wanted a fight? I'd give her one. She flew at me much faster than I expected, but still far too slowly to take on a Master vamp like me. I spun and missed her swing, and taunted her.

"Going jogging, pet?"

Angrily, she came after me again, and this time I got a swipe against my midsection. Irritatedly, I looked down.

"I liked this shirt. Now you've gone and ripped it."

She was panting, but she wouldn't give up. She came at me again, and we went into a full out brawl - kicking, punching, rolling on the ground. She held her own fairly well, but her fighting skills left something to be desired. After we separated, she took a desperate move- she flung her cross dagger at me, hitting me in the chest, just a hair too high from my heart. Being silver, it didn't feel like a butterfly kiss. A potential skill she had, there.

I snatched it out. "Bloody hell, woman, that hurts!"

We went into one more brawl, and finally I asked her if she'd had enough. In response, she simply passed out. Good thing I was a gentleman, or I'd have had a beautiful female at my disposal. But not me. I wanted my Kitten to _want_ me. And I knew that would take time.


	5. Chapter 5

I carried her into the area of the cave I used as a bedroom and gave her a bit of blood - all while she was still solidly passed out. As I watched her cuts and bruises vanish, I wondered if it was going to be harmful to her in the long run, being knocked unconscious twice in one night. With her being a half-breed, I figured she'd heal quickly and most damage wouldn't be permanent, but I still gave her a little bit more. Then, knackered, I tucked her in and climbed in beside her. I wished that we were in bed in a far more romantic setting, but it looked like I had my work cut out for me there.

I'd just started to drift off, noticing that I was getting colder and colder. I looked over and realized the sodding woman had stolen all the covers - she was cocooned into the duvet while I had barely a scrap to cover myself. Cover hog.

I let her know her cover thievery wasn't appreciated, and she came fully awake - and panicked, getting a good bash on her nog for her troubles, too. Crikey. Was it really so horrible to be in a bed with me? I could think of twenty women off the top of my head who would love to be in her position, and here she was caterwauling about it - and us both completely clothed, no less!

As it was, my evening had run like this - been lured away to be staked, had to interrogate someone, had the life-altering experience of meeting the world's only known living half-breed, began to fall in love, had an all out brawl on a cave floor, almost did get staked by a flying dagger, had another brawl, and now I'd had my covers stolen and had a panicking women in my bed. Lucifer's bouncing balls, this was too much.

I wrestled around on the bed a bit, then threw the sheet at her. "Sleep on the floor, then. You're a cover hog, anyhow."

A small, mean part of me took great satisfaction at listening to her wriggling around on the floor, trying to find a comfortable spot on the rock floor. Not my finest moment, but as I said, I'd had a rather tumultuous evening and didn't even get dinner. Can you really blame a fellow for a few silent chuckles before finally falling asleep?


	6. Chapter 6

"Rise and shine. We have work to do."

I grinned at hearing her bones creak as she rose from the rock floor. Served her right, cover hog that she was. Anyway, moving on. We had things to do.

I moved the rock out the way that closed off the bedroom area and stepped through, hearing her behind me. Then I heard her stop and hesitate, then start sort of shuffling from foot to foot. I turned around to see what the holdup what _this_ time.

Oh. Right. Mother Nature's call. Not that I'd felt it myself in centuries, but she was clearly embarrassed about it. Time for a little teasing.

"What? Next you'll be wanting a bidet?"

Finally easing up on her, I told her of a spot on the rocks where she could do her business. Tartly, she asked if there was any toilet paper. Taken aback, I laughed again and said I'd put it on my shopping list. This Kitten did amuse me.

Then a thought occurred - what if she tried to make an escape and tried to jump off the edge, into the water, thinking to swim away? She'd be lost in minutes, and freeze to death. Something cold and hard inside me clenched at the thought, but rather than let her know it bothered me, I made my voice as cold and hard as I felt inside as I warned her how the waters snaked for miles and she'd get hypothermia.

I could almost hear the cogs turning in her brain as she mulled that over and ruled it out. Finally, she called out, asking my name - assuming I didn't prefer to just answer to profanity. I had another inner chuckle at my Kitten.

She emerged from her makeshift loo and I answered her.

"My name is Bones."

We sat facing each other on boulders, me relaxed, her more warily. Amazing. How many countless women had wanted me over the course of my life, and afterlife, and yet this one woman _I_ wanted feared me?

Regardless, I decided to move on to the first part of our agreement - telling her the strengths and weaknesses of vampires. It was a big leap of faith on my part, but I reckoned she wanted to kill them enough that she wouldn't go blathering about them. And if she was truly a half-breed, and I believed she was, then it wouldn't do her any favors to, either.

I ran down the strengths quickly - speed, vision, hearing, smell, physical strength. And I quickly gave her something she wanted to make sure she'd stick to her end of the deal - a basic idea of how to find her dad. To kill him, of course. Blimey, never met someone with such a hangup about vampires.

We went through her strengths, and while she had a good few, she was severely lacking in some key areas. She mentioned a few personal details that I don't think she meant to spill, and while I gave her a look that said she was telling too much, I was building an internal file on my Kitten. How strange that both of us should be illegitimate. Her mum was called a whore, and mine_ was_ one. Our lives, while 200 years apart, were starting to fall along eerily similar lines.

We then ran through the weaknesses - both real and fake - and found that she'd discovered a few on her own the hard way. Again, she revealed a few personal details and then looked like she regretted it, and I gave her the same "too much information" look, but internally I added it to the Kitten file.

Finally I sat back and considered her. She was lovely, but to truly bring in the big fish like I wanted, she'd need a crash course in how to NOT blush at the slightest innuendo (I'd been enjoying it myself all day), she needed to work on enhancing her strengths, minimizing her weaknesses, and guidance in how to look really enticing to a vampire - meaning slutty, of course.

"The way I figure it, we have about six weeks before we get you out in the field. Five weeks of hard training, and one week to work on your looks."

I expected the explosion of derision from her about her looks, but in truth, I was really just giving her six weeks to come around to me.

"Quit blathering. Didn't you want to call your mum? My cell phone's in the back."


	7. Chapter 7

Hard training. That was how I'd described it to her, and, while it might not have been difficult for me, it clearly pushed her to her limits.

But that was the idea, right? If she wanted to kill vampires, and she clearly did, then I was going to do my damndest to make sure that she was the most lethal she could be. And, if I got to ogle her arse whilst chasing her through a forest, well, I'd call that a win-win situation.

She got better, too - stronger, faster, more agile. She stayed conscious more of the time, although I doubt she considered that a good thing, seeing as how that meant she was awake when I gave her blood to heal her.

She really had no idea of her effect on me - the feeling of her warm mouth around my finger evoked fantasies of her mouth around something else. Watching her run, imaging those long legs wrapped around me. Seeing her become more agile, more flexible, just gave me more ideas on ways to take her, different ways to bend her to hear her scream - in pleasure, that is.

When she told me she wasn't a virgin, I was shocked. The thought of her having a boyfriend waiting for her to come home to when she left me caused that tight, burning feeling to return to my stomach. But then when she told me that some lad had pulled a one-nighter, I kept my face neutral, but inside, I made a promise to myself: one day, I'd find that lad, and I'd kill him.

I'd been hearing rumors of young girls who kept disappearing, but whenever I went to check the police reports on them, they'd also magically disappeared. So, even though I didn't want to, I knew we were going to have to go consult an old acquaintance of mine.

I had Kitten drive us out to his "place of residence" if you will, and was bemused when she informed me she wouldn't be involved in the killing of any humans. Little did she know at the time that this "human" had been dead for well over a hundred years.

I outlined the situation to her and gave her the necessary ingredients to get the information we needed: pen, paper, and, oh yes, a bottle of white lightning. Winston may be dead, but he still liked his drink.

I stayed well out of sight, since our kinds didn't get along, and waited for her to come back. Luckily Kitten wasn't the type to be too freaked out by being in a graveyard in the middle of the night, so she didn't come screaming out after a minute or so.

In fact, I was just starting to get concerned about how long she WAS in there when she came weaving her way out. And when I say "weaving," I mean, as in, unable to walk a straight line weaving. She flung something at me that landed about a dozen yards away; picking it up, I realized it was the white lightning bottle. And it was empty.

Lucifer's bouncing balls, this woman had just drunk enough to kill a man three times her size, and she was still on her feet! Well, holding onto my jacket, but doing very well considering the circumstances.

"What happened, Kitten?"

"...you men…you're all alike. Alive, dead, undead—all perverts! I had a drunken pervert in my pants! Do you know how un_san_itary that is?"

Wait just a bloomin' minute. Tell me I did _not_ just hear what I think I heard.

"Winston poltergeisted my panties, that's what!"

That sneaky, evil, filthy, lucky bugger...

"Why, you scurvy, lecherous spook!" I yelled in the direction of the cemetery. "If my

pipes still worked, I'd go right back there and piss on your grave!" Wanker.

I was angry, because I was right in my suspicions about those missings girls being killed by vampires, and because Winston just floated his lucky self through the very panties I also very much wanted to get in.

Suddenly, Kitten began to giggle. "You know what? "You're pretty. You're so pretty."

I looked back at her and realized that for her to let down her guards down that much, she _really_ had to be feeling the effects of all the alcohol. "Bloody hell. You'll hate yourself in the morning for saying that. You must be absolutely pissed."

She giggled again. "Not anymore."

I realized we'd gotten what we'd come for and, on the slim chance that Kitten came down with alcohol poisoning, it was definitely time to leave.

"Right." I picked her up and headed to the truck. "If you weren't half dead, what you just drank would kill you. Come on, pet. Let's get you home."

"Do you think I'm pretty?" she suddenly asked

Bugger, do I tell her the truth and hope she's so pissed she doesn't remember? Or do I lie to protect myself and risk getting her angry? I went with the truth. "No. I don't think you're pretty. I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

She went into some place in her mind, talking about the bloke that did the hit and run, I think, and how she was evil.

"You listen to me, Kitten," I cut in. "I don't know who you're talking about, but you are not evil. Not one single cell of you. There is nothing wrong with you, and sod anyone who can't see that for themselves."

Her head lolled about on my arm again, then she cheered up and began to giggle.

"Winston liked me. As long as I have moonshine, I've always got a date with a ghost!"

"I hate to inform you, luv, but you and Winston don't have a future together."

"Says who?" she laughed.

I pulled her face up very close to mine. "I say."

"I'm drunk, aren't I?"

I snorted, amused that she'd even need to ask. "Impressively so."

I carried her to the passenger side of her truck and deposited her on the seat. I watched her shift around, trying to get comfortable, but not having much luck. After several minutes of watching her wiggle around (which was both funny - because she was drunk - and arousing), I finally said, "Here," and pulled her head down to my lap.

"Pig!" she screamed, jerking up so fast, her cheek banged on the steering wheel.

I just laughed. "Isn't _your_ mind in the gutter? You shouldn't be so quick to label Winston a drunken pervert. Pot calling the kettle black, if you ask me. I only had the most honorable of intentions, I assure you."

Finally she flopped her head back down into my lap, tired. "Wake me when we get to my house."


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, or added this story (or me) to their favorites list! It means a lot and encourages me to keep writing! I can't respond to every review because some reviewers are signed in as guests and others have responses turned off, but rest assured I read every one, and I thank you for each of them!_

Gorgeous. Fucking gorgeous.

Of course, Kitten wouldn't talk to me the entire way back to the cave, and that was _before_ she'd seen the outfits I'd bought her.

I'd had a right good time, more fun than I'd could remember in fact, shopping for her. Shiny silver dresses, slinky green numbers, jewelry (some of it real but I'd swear to her it was just fashion) even brassieres I knew would make her cleavage even more fantastic than it already was. Boots that would curve to her calves with heels that would make her legs look miles long. Oh, the images that went through my head, shopping for her that day...

I even got to indulge in a bit of fantasy. Whenever I'd go to pay for an item, a salesgirl would be giving me the eye, and ask, "Shopping for your girlfriend?" hoping like hell I was shopping for my sister. I'd barely even give them a glance as I handed over my credit card and answer, "No, my wife."

You see, I'd figured out what that burning feeling was when I thought of Kitten with another man - jealousy. The fact that I'd never been jealous before was clue number one. Then came the fact that she was my match, in every way - she never backed down from any fight, even one she might be outclassed in. Add in the fact that she was gorgeous, and well, I'd pretty much figured out I was in love. And, as I'd never in all my years been in love, I wanted to make this woman mine, in every way - I wanted to marry her. She wasn't exactly on board with the program yet, but, as I said, I never backed down from any fight, and this one I thought I could win.

But back to the present - picking her up after her day at the salon. I'd dropped her off in jeans and a t-shirt, no makeup, hair tied back into a messy bun. The sight that greeted me was a completely new woman - plucked eyebrows, hair trimmed and curled, makeup artfully applied, nails carefully manicured.

After we got back to the cave and I gave her the bag of clothes, she stomped off to one of the cave's little nooks to change. She came out dressed in the slinky green number and with it came that red headed temper.

"There is no way I'm going out in public like this!"

"You look smashing. Can't hardly stop myself from ripping your clothes off."

"You think this is funny, don't you? This is all a big…bloody chuckle-fest to you!"

I sprang forward. "This isn't a joke, but it is a game. Winner takes all. You need every advantage you can get. If some poor undead fellow is busy looking at these"—I tried for a peek before getting my hand slapped away—"then he won't be looking for this." I pressed a stake up against her stomach.

"Is that a stake, Bones, or are you just happy with my new dress?"

I gave her a sly grin. "In this case, it's a stake. You could always feel around for something more, though. See what comes up."

"This better be part of that dirty-talk training, or we're going to give this new stake a go."

"Now, pet, that's hardly a romantic rejoinder. Concentrate! You do look great, by the way. That bra does wonders for your cleavage."

"Slime," she spat. As I said, not quite on board with the whole marriage idea yet.

"Moving on, Kitten. Put the stake in your boot. You'll find there's a loop for it. Put your other one away as well."

"That loop was a great idea, Bones." Hmmm, a compliment. A start.

"Done it myself a time or two. Hmmm, still something not right, something missing…." I walked in a circle around her. She held still as I enjoyed scrutinizing her every angle. Time for a bit of fun...

"I've got it!" I snapped my fingers. "Take your knickers off."

"What?"

"Your knickers. You know—panties, underwear, muff-huggers, nasty nets—"

"Are you out of your mind? This is where I draw the line! What does my underwear have to do with anything? I am not flashing my…my crotch at someone, no matter what you say!"

I held out my hands in a gesture of peace. "Look, you don't have to flash anyone anything. Believe me, a vampire will know right off without you showing him that your box is unwrapped."

"And just how's he supposed to know that? No panty lines?"

"The scent, pet," I said instantly. That did it. Her face looked like a tomato about to explode. "No vamp in the world could mistake that. Like dangling bloomin' catnip in front of a kitty. Bloke gets a good whiff of—"

"Will you stop? I get the picture! Stop drawing it, okay? God, but you are—are…profane!"

I inwardly laughed at her outrage, and at her choice of words. If she thought that was profane, she should hear me when I _really_ get mad. Her head might explode.

"I hardly see how that's necessary. You've got me dressed in these screw-me clothes, I'm all dolled up with hair and makeup, and I'm going to burn their ears off with dirty talk. If that isn't enough to get them to take me for a ride, then I think it's hopeless."

I stood utterly still, thinking, trying to come up with a way to get her to buy this without going too over the top.

"It's like this, luv," I finally responded. "You look right fetching now with your new togs, but suppose a fellow prefers blondes? Or brunettes? Or likes 'em with a little more meat on the arse? These aren't greenhorns looking for the first available artery. These are Master vampires with discriminating tastes. We might need something to tip the scales, as it were. Think of it as…advertising. Is it really that difficult for you? You know, with a vampire's natural sense of smell, it's not like he can't sniff you out in the first place. Blimey, I can tell right off when you've got your monthlies, knickers or no knickers. Some things you just—"

"All right!" I could see her trying desperately to get her temper under control. I wondered in the back of my mind if it was possible to have an aneurysm at 22, because if so, she was a definite candidate for one. "I get your point. Fine, I'll do it, when we go out on Friday. Not before. I'm not negotiating on this one."

"Whatever you say," I said peaceably. "Now, then, let's get on to the nasty speak."


	9. Chapter 9

This should prove to be the most fun - and the most difficult - of all of our training yet: turning Kitten from a blushing innocent into a sexy speaking seducer. She'd already seduced me, of course, and without saying a single sexy thing, but we had big fish to reel in, and she'd need to know how to respond to just about anything they might say to her. I certainly didn't like the idea of some chap chatting up my Kitten, but we'd made a deal at the very beginning that I was going to teach her how to kill vampires, and since I'm not a welsher, and she'd more than overcome every obstacle I'd thrown her way, so it was time for me to ante up. That didn't mean I wouldn't have fun finally getting to say out loud some of the fantasies that had been building up in my head, though.

I held her hands despite her bellyaching about it, saying that if she flinched or twitched repeatedly, it would be a dead giveaway. Between her expressions and hand movements, it was a great lie detector test. Every time she blushed or recoiled, the punishment would be ten miles running through the woods with me chasing her. Plus, I just enjoyed holding her soft hands in mine.

"You look luscious, pet. The only thing that could make your mouth more beautiful is if it were wrapped around my cock. I wager you could start my heart again. I'd like to bend you over just to hear how loud you can scream. I bet you like it rough, you'd like me to tear into you until you can't beg anymore…." Kitten bent over the couch, over the bonnet of a car, over anything really. And I'd been fixated on her plump lips for weeks. She had a tendency to bite the lower one when she was thinking or worried, and it was all I could do not to gently draw it out and nibble on it myself.

"My, my, someone hasn't been laid in a while," she mocked.

My tongue flicked out to trace the inside of my lower lip, imagining doing all of the things I described. I saw her watching the path of it.

"I'll take your breasts inside my mouth, licking your nipples until they turn dark red. They'll do that, luv. The more I lick and the more I nibble, the darker they'll get." Just one of my favorite things to do to a woman. "Let me inform you of a secret about vampires—we direct where the blood goes in our bodies, for as long as we want it to be there. I can't wait to find out how you taste, and you won't want me to stop even after I've completely exhausted you. You'll think you were on fire, your skin will burn. I'll suck all of your juices out of you. And then I'll drink your blood." If I were a betting man, I'd be willing to bet that she tasted even sweeter than her blood. And I couldn't wait to find out.

"Huh?" You could see understanding dawn about the sequence of the last two lines, and a flush scorched across her cheeks in the next instant. She snatched her hands from mine and shot from her chair so fast it fell over.

Laughing, I taunted her. "Oh, Kitten, you were doing so well! Guess you just couldn't pass up a nice stroll in the woods. Beautiful night for it, I smell a storm coming. And you wonder why I had you pegged as an innocent. I've met nuns who were more promiscuous. I knew it would be the oral stuff that did you in, I would have bet my life on it." You may not have experienced the pleasures of my oral skills _yet_ Kitten, but soon, soon...

"You don't have a life, you're dead."

Ouch. That hurt. Still, mustn't let her see how much she can get to me. "That's a matter of opinion. In fact, if you judge by senses and reflexes, I'm as alive as any human, just with a few more upgrades."

"Upgrades? You're not a computer. You're a killer."

I rocked back on my chair legs. "You're a killer, too, luv, or did you forget that? You know, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, and all that rot. Really, Kitten, why so shy on our former topic? Didn't that sodding chap who shagged you kiss you everywhere first? Don't tell me the wretch neglected foreplay."

"Not unless you count him taking his clothes off as foreplay. Can we not talk about that? It hardly puts me in the proper mood."

That bloody wanker. What a right arse. "Don't fret over him, pet. If I meet him, I'll snap him in half for you. No, we won't speak of him any longer. Ready to go back to the table now? Or do you need a few more minutes to cool off?" I put deliberate accent on the last two words just to wind her up some more.

"I'm ready. I just wasn't prepared before." Fair play to her. She came back to the table and slid her hands into mine. "Go on. Give it your best shot."

I grinned with a slow sexy twist of my lips. "Love to give it my best shot. Let me tell you just how I'd do it…."

Two hours later, her ears were bright red and she owed me forty miles. I was in high spirits. I'd finally gotten to voice some of my fantasies - although she didn't realize they were real and not just random dirty talk - and I had forty miles of looking at her arse during a run through the woods to look forward to.

When I was finished embarrassing the life out of her, she archly asked if I wanted a cigarette. I laughed and told her that I'd quit smoking; heard it wasn't good for my health. Kitten really could make me laugh, but I could tell that I made her laugh as well.

She went back into her little nook that she'd turned into a changing room to strip out of the sexy dress and put on jogging clothes. I always collected on my bets, thunderstorm or no (I was secretly glad for it, actually - her arse looked amazing in her Lycra running pants dry, but wet? Oh, I couldn't wait to see how much better it would look.)

She squeezed out from the rocks with her hair rolled back into a bun to keep it out of her face for the run. I gave her a once over and smiled.

"There's the Kitten I know and love. Felt like you'd been away for a while, with how different you looked. Ready for a romp in the rain?"

"Let's get this over with. It's nearly nine o'clock and I'd like to get home. After this evening, I feel like I have to wash." Oh, the images that danced through my head at that statement... Kitten in a glass shower, covered in suds, Kitten in a giant claw footed tub, covered in bubbles and beckoning me to join her... oh. Back to the present.

"Well, luv"—we had reached the mouth of the cave, and I gestured to the rain coming down in torrents—"I aim to please. One shower, coming right up."


	10. Chapter 10

Finally, after weeks of training, the day of our first job arrived. I was so nervous about it, I was waiting for her when she arrived at the cave, something I never did. I had paced about all afternoon, trying to find things to take up the time. I'd already dressed for the evening by the time she got there, in a black long-sleeved shirt, black pants and black boots. I'd learned from experience that it was both easiest to hide blood stains on black and that if they didn't wash out, it really didn't matter.

As soon as she arrived I pounced on her, needing to reassure myself that she was sure of the plan. "Now, you're clear on all the details, right? You won't see me, but I'll be watching you. When you leave with him, I'm going to follow you. Anywhere outside is fine, but do not, I repeat, do not let him take you inside any buildings or houses. If he tries to force you inside one, what do you do?"

"Bones, for God's sake, we've been over this a thousand times."

"What do you do?" I wasn't going to let it go; I was too nervous she might panic during the actual event and forget, so I wanted to go over and over the plan.

"Hit the pager in the watch, Mr. Bond, James Bond. You'll come running. Dinner for two."

Slightly relieved, I grinned and squeezed her shoulder. "Kitten, you have me pegged all wrong. If I go for your neck, I have no intention of sharing."

I'd had the watch specially made for her by a mate of mine; it was rigged with a tiny pager that would only send a series of beeps to me, but if it went off, it meant she was in deep shit. Which was why I wanted to go over and over the watch plan so much, so that if she got in over her head, she'd have a way to let me know she needed help if I was out of sight.

"Are you ever going to tell me about who I'm after? Or do I find out later if I've staked the wrong guy? You've been pretty secretive about the whole identity thing. Afraid I'd rat you out?"

I answered her with all seriousness. "It was better for you not to know beforehand, pet. That way no accidental slips. Word can't get out if word isn't spoken, right?"

I followed her to the little nook she used for changing clothes. She put the privacy screen in place with a pointed glance at me - I didn't respond, because I knew it was just a matter of time before that screen was history and she wouldn't think twice about changing in front of me. Or just staying naked, if she preferred. I knew which I infinitely preferred. Dammit, stick to the plan! She was talking at me...

"It amuses me to think of you worrying about my Freudian slips. Maybe you didn't hear me the other times I told you, but I don't have any friends. The only other person I talk to is my mother, and she's being kept far out of this loop."

Time to finally come clean, I suppose. Well, in a fashion. "All right, luv. His name is Sergio, though he might well give you another one. He's about six-one, black hair, gray eyes, typical vampire skin. Italian is his first language, but he's fluent in three others as well, so his English has an accent. He's not very beefy. In fact, he may even look soft to you, but don't let it fool you. He's almost three hundred years old and more powerful than you can imagine. Also, he's a sadist, likes 'em young, real young. Tell him you're underage and that you snuck in with a fake ID, it'll only switch him on more. You also can't kill him straightaway, because I need some information from him first. That's everything. Oh, and he's worth fifty thousand dollars."

"Money. So that's why you hunt vampires. You're a hit man!"

With an amazed expression, she pulled back the screen wearing only her bra and knickers. I made sure to get a good look before answering. Bollocks, didn't want to tell her this way, but I'm sunk now. Fuck, Bones, act casual!

"Yeah, that's right. It's what I do. But don't fret. You could also say I'm a bounty hunter. Sometimes my clients want 'em back alive."

"Wow. I just thought we were going after people who had pissed you off."

"And that was enough for you to kill for, someone who might have looked at me cross eyed? Blimey, but you're not particular. What if I were chasing some nice sweet thing that'd never hurt a fly? Still be alright with it then?"

She yanked the screen back into place and I heard her respond in a flat, empty tone. "None of you are nice sweet things. You're all murderers. That's why it didn't matter. Point me at a vampire and I'll try to kill it, because at one time they've done something to deserve it."

Bollocks, after all this time, she still couldn't see that there might be more to vampire (well, me) than just fangs? Her words hit me like a ton of bricks and I just stood there, silent and brooding. Finally I answered. "Not every vampire is like the ones who killed those girls Winston told you about. It's just your bad luck to be living in Ohio at this particular time. There are things going on you don't know about."

"Winston was wrong, by the way," she said smugly. "I looked up those girls' names the next day, and none of them were dead. They weren't even missing. One of them, Suzy Klinger, lived in the town next to mine, but her parents said she moved away to study acting. What I don't know is why Winston would make that up, but far be it for me to understand the mental workings of a ghost."

"Bloody hell!" My voice was raised and I clenched my fists. If she went digging too deep and in the wrong areas, she could get into trouble that even I might not be able to get her out of. "Who did you talk to, aside from Suzy Klinger's parents? The police? Other families?"

"No one. I entered their names online at the library's computer and when nothing came up, I looked in a few local papers and then called Suzy's parents saying I was a telemarketer. That was it."

I relaxed a bit. "Don't go against what I tell you to do again," I managed to say very calmly.

"What did you expect? For me to forget about over a dozen girls being murdered by vampires because you told me to? See, this is just what I'm talking about! A human wouldn't act like that. Only a vampire could be that cold."

I crossed my arms. "Vampires have existed for millennia, and though we have our villains among us, the majority of us just have a sip here and there, but everybody walks away. Besides, it's not like your kind hasn't made its mark for ill on the world. Hitler wasn't a vampire, was he? Too bloody right. Humans can be just as nasty as we are, and don't you forget it." Come on, Kitten, look past the lack of a pulse and see the _person_...

"Oh, come on, Bones!" She pulled the screen back again and I saw that she was dressed and starting to put curlers in her hair. "Don't give me that crap. Are you telling me you've never murdered someone innocent? Never drank the life out of someone when you were hungry? Never forced a woman who said no? Hell, the only reason you didn't kill me the night we met was because you saw my eyes glow, so sell that smack to someone who's buying!"

I saw a curler start to fall out of her hair and I reached out to grab it. Despondently, I saw her flinch as if she thought I would hit her. I steeled myself to keep my emotions from showing on my face, even though my non-beating heart felt like it was squeezing painfully in my chest, and rolled the curler back into her crimson locks.

Sadly, I responded, "Think I'd strike you? You really don't know as much as you claim to. Aside from teaching you how to fight, I'd never lay a harsh hand on you. As for the night we met, you did your level best to kill me. I thought you were sent by someone, so I smacked you and threatened you, but I wasn't going to kill you. No, I would have sipped from your neck and green-eyed you until you told me who they were. Then I would have sent you back to the shit with your limbs broken as a warning, but I promise you this—at no point would I have forced myself on you. Sorry, Kitten. Every woman I've been with has wanted me to be there. Have I killed any innocents in my time? Yeah, I have. When you've lived as long as I have, you make mistakes. You try to learn from them. And you shouldn't be so quick to judge me on that. No doubt you've killed innocents as well." We're the same, Kitten, you just can't see it. Open your eyes...

"The only people I've killed were vampires who tried to kill me first," she said a bit shakily.

"Oh?" I asked softly. "Don't be so sure. Those blokes you killed, did you wait for them to try to bite you first? Or did you just assume because they were vampires and they'd gotten you alone, they intended to murder you? Ignoring the very real likelihood that they were there because they'd thought a beautiful girl was hot to shag them. Tell me—how many of them did you kill before they'd even shown you their fangs?"

Her mouth dropped open and I could almost see the memories play through her mind like a movie. All sixteen vampires she'd killed before she met me... _had_ they tried to bite her? I could see her brain working to justify memory facts with all the anti-vampire rhetoric her mum had been drilling into her. Finally, she said, "whether they showed their fangs or not doesn't change the fact that vampires are evil, and that's enough for me."

"Bloody mule-headed woman. Then if all vampires are the filth you claim them to be, why wouldn't I just pry your legs open now and take out some of my evil on you?" Granted, I'd _like_ to pry her legs open, but not with any evil intent...

I saw her glance at her stash of stakes and snorted. "You never have to fret about it. Told you, I don't come in unless invited. Now hurry up. You have another murderous fiend to kill."

I was so pained that she thought I'd hurt her, or do anything against her will, I left in a burst of speed. I scribbled a note telling her that I'd be watching and to proceed with the plan. On the way there, I had to keep reminding myself that the only other man she'd spent any kind of time with at all had basically raped her, which was part of the reason she was so afraid and skittish around me. That went a long way towards explaining her attitudes and actions, but it didn't completely relieve my hurt. I'd thought I was making some progress with her, yet she'd just showed me that she saw me as nothing but an evil bloodsucker.

I situated myself at the far back of the bar in the shadows with a whiskey. About half an hour later, I saw Kitten come in, completely kitted out in her sexy dress and fuck-me boots. God, but she was gorgeous. As planned, she went straight to the bar. Even with undead hearing, I couldn't hear over the loud music in the club, but I knew she'd ordered a gin and tonic - her usual. As the time went by waiting for Sergio to come in, that scalding jealousy came back in force and I had to force back my growls as I watched first the bartender, then over a dozen patrons undress her with their eyes or try to buy her drinks. She turned them down though, and just waited patiently.

About an hour after her arrival, Sergio arrived. I knew she could feel his energy in the air by the way she suddenly sat up a bit straighter, then turned and stretched her legs, crossing one over the other. I saw Sergio pause in his direction, see Kitten, and head straight for her. Even though this was the plan, it still brassed me off to watch.

He removed the man from the seat next to her (who had been staring down her dress, and was a hair away from getting a beating from me, Sergio or no Sergio), saw them have a little conversation, him buy her another drink, and then them have what looked like a whispered, intimate conversation. Probably her telling him she was underage, like I instructed.

In less than half an hour, they were out the door. She'd been sure to drink several gin and tonics, so she staggered a bit, looking intoxicated. They got in his Benz and were off. I followed back about a mile and a half - close enough to quickly close the distance if she needed help, but far enough back that he wouldn't notice he was being followed.

Suddenly, the car swerved to the shoulder of the road. Sergio decimated the back door, coming out with a stake in his neck and one in his back. Kitten came out after him, rolling to avoid the blow he aimed at her head, but I yanked him backward, one hand on each stake.

"About time," she grumbled.

"Hallo, Sergio!" I said cheerfully, viciously jerking the stake in Sergio's neck.

Gurgling, Sergio spoke. "Filthy bastard, how'd you find me?"

I tightened my hold on the stake in Sergio's back, digging it deeper until it was grazing his heart. "I see you've met my friend. Isn't she just wonderful?"

I noticed that blood was running down Kitten's arm as she ripped one sleeve off her dress and wrapped it around her wrist.

Sergio gave her an incredulous look. "You. Set me up."

"That's right, pussycat. Guess you won't be giving me that tongue bath after all." Well, no need to wonder if the dirty talk lessons had worked, now was there?

"She is something, isn't she?" I went on. "Knew you couldn't pass up a pretty girl, you worthless sod. Isn't it fitting that now you're the one who's been lured into a trap? What, did you grow short on funds so you had to go out for dinner instead of order in?"

Sergio froze. "I don't know what you say."

Liar. "Of course you do. You're his best client, from what I hear. Now, I have just one question for you, and I know you're going to answer me honestly, because if not"—I gave another twist of the stake in Sergio's back—"I'm going to be really unhappy. Do you know what happens when I'm unhappy? My hand twitches."

"What? What? I tell you! I tell you!" He was almost incoherent now.

I smiled a grim smile. "Where's Hennessey?"

Sergio looked petrified, and he paled to the point of looking bleached. "Hennessey will kill me. You don't cross him and live to brag about it! You don't know what he'll do if I talk. And you kill me anyway if I tell you."

"See, mate." Twist, turn, yank. "I promise I won't kill you if you tell me. That gives you a chance to run from Hennessey. But I swear to you, if you don't tell me where he is"—thrust, and a high-pitched wail from Sergio—"you'll die right here. Your call. Make it now."

His head slumped in defeat, and he answered, "Chicago Heights, south side of town."

"Thanks ever so, mate." I raised my eyebrow and looked at Kitten. "This your stake, luv?" I ripped the one out of Sergio's back and threw it at her. Catching it in midair, she met my eyes with perfect understanding.

"You promised! You promised!"

Sergio whimpered as she neared, torn arm clutched to her chest.

"I did. She didn't. Got something you want to say to him, Kitten?"

"No," she answered, and shoved the stake into Sergio's heart. Her hand went into his chest with the momentum of it and she jerked back, shaking his thick dark blood off in disgust. "I'm done talking to him."


	11. Chapter 11

I made quick work of Sergio, wrapping him in plastic and popping him in the trunk, whistling to myself. Kitten had performed even better than I had expected - she was a natural, really. It was an odd thing to be a natural at, killing vampires, but it was yet another way we were perfectly suited. Tonight had just shown me again that we were meant to be together, hence the whistling.

Once done, I went over to where Kitten was hunched against the car, holding her wrist. She tried to make out like she was fine, but I removed her makeshift sleeve-bandage and saw that it was a nasty bite, with the flesh torn. I pulled out my knife to heal her and she tried to stop me, but I just gave her a look and told her not to be irrational.

"How much did he take?"

She watched her wrist heal as she answered. "About four good pulls, I guess. Stabbed him in the neck as fast as I could to get his mind off it. Where were you, anyway? I didn't see a car behind us."

I told her about following far enough back to not be noticed, when suddenly we both realized our heads were only inches apart and our knees were pressed together. She tried to shift back, but was penned in by the car door.

Clearly trying to change the subject, she said, "I think the car's ruined. The rear door is in scraps."

Curious, I asked, "Why did he go for your wrist, if you were both in the backseat? Couldn't get to your neck?"

"No." She grimaced. "He got frisky in the front seat and tried to feel me up, thanks to you and the no-panties idea. I wasn't about to let that happen, so I climbed into the back and put my arms around him from behind so he wouldn't get suspicious. Stupid of me, I know now, but I didn't even think of my wrists. Every other vampire had always gone for my neck."

Inwardly I snorted. "Yeah, including me, right? The car swerved off the road so fast, I thought you two were already sprawling inside. What made him pull off so erratically then?"

Flippantly, she replied, "I told him to come and get me." Suddenly, she tensed and asked, "Is he okay back there in the trunk?"

I chuckled. "You want to keep him company?"

I got an evil glare for my troubles. "No, but is he really gone? I'd always cut off their heads to be sure."

"Critiquing my work? Yeah, he's really gone. Right now we need to get out of here before some nosy driver pops alongside and asks if we need help." I let go of her wrist and looked at the wound. The edges were already pulled together. "That'll hold you. We need to move this vehicle."

She stood up and looked at the mangled Benz. "How I am supposed to drive in this wreck? Any cop that sees this car is going to pull me over!"

I gave her a cocky grin. "Don't fret. Have it all worked out."

I pulled my mobile out of my jacket and called my mate to tell him his services were needed, and where we were. "Step on it, right?" I hung up and answered her. "Sit tight, Kitten. Our ride will be here in a minute. Don't worry, he's nearby. Told him I might have a use for him tonight. Course, he was probably figuring on it being a little later in the evening."

I paused and gave her an appraising look. "You left with him right quick, didn't you? He must have been quite pleased with you."

"Yeah, real happy. Color me flattered. Seriously, Bones, even if you tow this car there's still too much blood in it. And you didn't listen to me about bringing cleaning materials. This thing could have been at least mopped up."

I moved closer to look at her wrist again. Now only a thin red line remained as evidence Sergio ever met her. I leaned back a bit, but didn't let go.

"Trust me, luv. I know you don't, but you should. You did a smashing job tonight, by the way. That stake in his back was just a thought away from his heart. It slowed him, as did the one in his neck. You would have had him even if I wasn't here. You're strong, Kitten. Be glad of it."

She shot me a sarcastic glance. "Glad? That's not quite the word I'd use. Relieved? You could say that. Relieved I'm alive and there's one less murderer prowling around for naïve girls. But glad? Glad would be if I never had this lineage. Glad would be if I had two normal parents and a bunch of friends, and the only thing I'd ever killed was time. Or if even once I had been to a club

just to go dancing and have fun instead of ending up staking something that tried to kill me. That's glad. This is just…existing. Until the next time."

She pulled her wrist from my hand and scooted back a bit from me. A look that was way too heavy for her years crossed her face. Then it was replaced with self-pity. I knew she was unhappy with her life, and that she'd been given some heavy loads to bear, but she wasn't the only one who'd known suffering in this world, and she was well old enough for the pity party to stop.

"Rot."

"Excuse me?"

"Rot, I said. You play the hand you're dealt just like everyone else in this bloody world. You have gifts people would kill for, no matter that you scorn them. You have a mum who loves you and a nice house to go home to. Sod your backwoods neighbors who look down their ignorant noses at you for your lack of a father. This world is a big place and you've got an important role to play in it. Think everyone goes around whistling about the life they lead? Think everyone is given the power to choose the way their fate goes? Sorry, luv, it doesn't work that way. You hold the ones you love close and fight the battles you can win, and that, Kitten, is how it is."

"What would you know about it?" She asked bitterly.

I threw back my head and laughed before I seized her shoulders, moving closer until my mouth almost touched hers. "You…haven't…the…slightest…inkling of what I've been through, so

don't…tell…me…what I know." There was a hint of menace in my voice, the way I bit out each syllable. I could hear her heart start to pound, and I loosened my grip on her shoulders so my fingers no longer dug into her skin, but my hands remained.

Unconsciously she licked her lips, and she watched as my eyes follow the movement. The air

fairly crackled between us. In answer to hers, I snaked my tongue out and slid it across my bottom lip. Again, I watched her follow the movement, almost like she was mesmerized.

Ted's horn blaring nearly made her jump out of her skin.

"Bones…!" she called out, frightened of discovery.

Brassed off as I was at the timing of it (shite! I almost got to kiss her!) I still had work to do, and it started right now.

.

"Ted, you buggering bastard, good of you to arrive so quickly!" I said insincerely.

"I'm missin' my shows because of you, buddy. Hope I didn't interrupt nothin' between you and that gal. Two of you looked awful cozy."

"No!" She bleated. "Nothing going on here!"

Ted laughed and looked around the car, taking in the blood. "Sure…I can see that."

I gave Ted instructions on where we needed to go and that he could have the car, then went and fetched my motorbike and stashed it in the back of the truck with the Benz. I hopped into the back of the truck myself and called out, "Come on, Kitten. Your taxi's waiting."

She questioned us riding in the back, and I explained that Ted preferred not to be seen with me. She made a sarcastic comment about envying him for being smart about that. She wouldn't sit in the car where her blood was splashed all over the seats, so she huddled into a ball on a crate, as far away from me as she could get in the cramped interior of the truck. _Dammit, we had been so close earlier..._ In response, I perched nonchalantly on another crate.

"I know this isn't a concern for you, but is there enough oxygen in here?"

"Plenty of air. Just as long as there isn't any heavy breathing." I raised a brow while my eyes told her I hadn't missed an instant of our earlier moment.

"Well, then I'm safe. Absolutely safe." I gave her a knowing smile in return.

"Shit."

"Something wrong?" Thinking of anything in particular, Kitten? Or anyone?

I kept my knowing smile but my expression was serious. She glanced around the interior of the truck, searching for something to break the tension.

"So who's this Hennessey you were asking about?"

Bollocks. How much to tell her? "Someone dangerous."

"Yeah, I gathered that. Sergio seemed pretty scared of him, so I didn't think he was a Boy Scout. I take it he's our next target?"

I paused, thinking. How much do I let her know? I don't want _him_ to know about _her_, and she's just reckless enough to go after him with or without me if I tell her why I'm _really_ after him. "He's someone I've been tracking, yes, but I'll be going after him alone."

That red headed temper came up at once. "Why? You don't think I can handle it? Or you still don't trust me to keep this secret? I thought we covered this already!"

"I think there are certain things you'd do well to stay out of," I hedged.

"You said something about Sergio being Hennessey's best client. What do you mean by that? What did Hennessey do to whoever hired you? Do you know, or did you just take the contract on him without asking?"

I let out a sigh. "Questions like that are why I won't tell you more about it. Suffice it to say there's a reason why Ohio's been such a hazardous place for young girls lately. It's why I don't want you chasing after vampires without me. Hennessey's more than just a sod who bleeds someone when he can get away with it. Beyond that, don't ask."

"Can you at least tell me how long you've been after him? That can't be top secret."

I frowned at the snippy tone in her voice. "'Round eleven years."

She almost fell off her crate, she looked so shocked. "Good God! He must have a real fancy price on his head! Come on, what did he do? He pissed off someone rich, obviously."

I gave her a look. "Not everything is about money."

"How did you become a vampire?" Even she seemed surprised she'd asked the question.

I arched my brow. "Want an interview with the vampire, luv? It didn't turn out too well for the reporter in the movie."

She murmured, "I never saw it. My mother thought it was too violent," then started laughing.

I grinned as well and looked meaningfully toward the car. "I can see that. Good thing you didn't watch it, then. Heaven knows what might have happened."

Laughter fading, she looked at me pointedly until I finally acquiesced. "All right, I'll tell you, but then you'll have to answer one of my questions. Got an hour to burn anyhow."

"Is this quid pro quo, Dr. Lecter?" she scoffed. "Fine, but I hardly see the point. You already

know everything about me."

I gave her a look of pure heat and I whispered, "Not everything."

That crackling energy came back between us and she fidgeted about on her crate, pulling herself into an even smaller ball. Finally, she asked, "When did it happen? When you were changed?"

"Let's see, it was 1790 and I was in Australia. I did this bloke a favor and he thought he was returning it by making me a vampire."

"What?" She seemed shocked. "You're Australian? I thought you were English!"

I smiled blankly. "I'm a bit of both, as it were. I was born in England. It's where I spent my youth, but it was in Australia that I was changed. That makes me part of it as well."

"You have to go into more detail than that."

"I was twenty-four. It happened just a month after my birthday."

"My God, we're almost the same age!"

I snorted. "Sure. Give or take two hundred and seventeen years."

"Er, you know what I mean. You look older than twenty-four."

"Thanks ever so." I laughed at her obvious remorse over that last statement, but put her out of her misery. "Times were different. People aged far more rapidly. You bloody folks don't know how

good you have it."

"Tell me more. Please."

Leaning forward, all seriousness now, I told her, my eyes closing as I remembered. That my mum was a whore, that I grew up in a whorehouse, that my mum died of syphilis young. That I was a thief and a beggar. That I earned my living as a whore as well. That I was arrested and almost sentenced to hanging, but was saved by one of my clients and sent to work as a convict. About my three mates- Timothy, Charles, and Ian. About Ian escaping, then coming back and turning us.

By the time I was finished, she had uncurled from her ball and looked amazed. "Your turn." My eyes opened to stare right into hers. "Tell me what happened with that sod who hurt you."

"God, Bones, I don't want to talk about that." She hunched defensively at the memory. "It's

humiliating."

My stare didn't waver. "I just told you that I used to be a thief, a beggar, and a whore. Is it really fair for you to cry foul over my question?"

She shrugged to try to hide how it still hurt her and summarized it briskly. "It's a common story. Boy meets girl, girl is naïve and stupid, boy uses girl and then hits the road."

I just arched my brow and waited.

She threw up her hands. "Fine! You want details? I thought he really cared for me. He told me he did, and I fell for his lies completely. We went out twice, and then the third time he said he had to stop by his apartment to get something before we'd go to this club. When we got there, he started kissing me, telling me all this crap about how special I was to him…I told him it was too soon. That we should wait to get to know each other better, that it was my first time. He disagreed. I—I should have hit him, or thrown him off me. I could have, I was stronger than he was. But…" she dropped her eyes, "I wanted to make him happy. I really liked him. So when he didn't stop, I just stayed still and tried not to move. It didn't hurt as much if I didn't move…."

She blinked rapidly and took in an uneven breath. "That's about it. One miserable time and then he didn't call me anymore. I was worried at first—I thought something bad might have happened to him." She gave a bitter laugh. "The next weekend I found him making out with another girl at the same club where we were supposed to go. He told me then that he'd never really liked me and to run along because it was past my bedtime. That same night, I killed my first vampire. In a way I owe it to being used. I was so upset I wanted to either die or murder someone. At least having some creature try to rip out my throat guaranteed me one or the other."

I didn't make any of my usual jokes. There was nothing funny in either of our stories. When she dared to meet my eyes again, I was simply staring at her, no scorn or judgment on my face. The silence stretched, seconds into minutes. It filled with something unexplainable as we kept looking in each other's eyes.

Suddenly the truck jostled to a stop. With a slight shake to clear my head, I said, "We're nearly at the place, and there's still work to be done. Hold open that bag for me, Kitten."

I unwrapped Sergio and popped his head off like it was a soda bottle. I dropped it into the bag Kitten was holding.

For the first time since I'd met her, she went a bit girlish. "Yuck." She thrust the bag back into my hands. "You take it."

"Squeamish? That lump of rotting skull is worth fifty thousand dollars. Sure you don't want to cradle it a bit?" I teased.

The rear door opened and Ted appeared. "We're here, bud. Hope you both had a smooth ride." His eyes twinkled as he looked back and forth between the two of us.

Kitten instantly sounded defensive.. "We were talking."

Ted grinned, and I hid a smile as well. "Come on, mate. We've been driving for, what…fifty minutes? Not nearly enough time."

We both laughed. Kitten didn't, seeing nothing amusing at all. "Are you finished?"

I shook my head. "Stay in the trailer for a minute. Something I have to take care of."

"What?" If curiosity killed the cat, I was hoping this one had nine lives...

"Business. Got a head to deliver, and I want you to stay out of it. The less people know of

you, the better."

I took off, and met my client at our appointed meeting place. They glanced into the bag, satisfied it was Sergio, and paid me the 50K promised. About half an hour later, I made it back to the truck. Kitten was still sitting in the back, swinging her legs in their fuck me boots over the edge. Image after image immediately appeared in my head... but still, the night wasn't finished.

I jumped into the trailer, untied my bike, and carried it one-handed to the ground. "Hop on, pet. We're finished."

"What about the car? Or the torso?"

She climbed behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist for leverage. It was heaven to feel her warmth pressed so close to me, her touching me without fear, especially to feel her long legs twine around mine. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and finish the moment from earlier. Instead I just handed her a helmet and answered her.

"Ted's taking the car. Got a chop house that he runs for 'em. It's how he makes his living, didn't I tell you?"

"And the body?"

"Part of the deal. He plants him for me. Less work for us. Ted's a smart fellow, keeps his mouth shut and minds his business. Don't fret over him."

It was a two-hour drive back to the cave, and we arrived shortly after three a.m. Her truck was parked about a quarter mile away from the entrance as usual, since the vehicle couldn't navigate the rest of the way. I pulled to a stop next to it, and she jumped off the motorcycle as soon as it quit moving.

"Off so soon, pet? The evening is young." I gave her a devilish look and curled my lips. She just collected her keys from their hiding place under a rock and heaved wearily into the truck.

"Maybe for you, but I'm going home. Go find yourself a nice neck to suck on."

I uncurled myself from the bike. "Going home wearing that dress with blood all over it? Your mum might worry at seeing you that way. You can come inside and change. Promise I won't peek." I gave an exaggerated wink that made her smile in spite of her weariness.

"No, I'll change at a gas station or something. By the way, since this job is done, when do I have to come back here? Do I get a break?"

"Sorry, Kitten. Tomorrow night you're on again. Then after that I fly to Chicago to see my old friend Hennessey. With luck, I'll be back on Thursday, because Friday I have another job for us…."

"Yeah, I get it," she grumbled. "Well, you just remember I'm starting college next week, so you'll have to cut me some slack. We might have an arrangement, but I've waited too long already to get my degree."

"Absolutely, pet. Fill your head with volumes of information that will never apply in real life. Just remember—dead girls pass no exams, so don't think you're going to neglect your training. Don't fret, though. We'll work it out. Speaking of that, here you go."

I pulled a large plastic envelope from my jacket, rifled through it a bit, then handed her some cash. "Your share."

"What's this?"

I shook my head with mirth. "Blimey, but you're a difficult chit! Fellow can't even give you money

without you arguing. This, luv, is twenty percent of the bounty Sergio had on his head. It's for your part in him losing his head. See, I reckon since I don't pay anything to the IRS, I may as well give their cut to you. Death and taxes. They go hand in hand."

"Umm, thanks." She seemed stupified.

I grinned. "You earned it, pet."

"You just got a big chunk of change yourself. Are you finally moving out of the cave?"

I chuckled. "Is that why you think I stay there? Out of lack of funds?"

Her tone was defensive. "Why else? It's not a Hilton. You have to pirate electricity and you wash in an ice-cold river. I didn't think you did that just because you liked seeing your parts shrink!"

That _really_ made me laugh. And also pleased that she was even thinking of my parts. "Concerned for my bits and pieces, are you? Let me assure you, they're fine. Of course, if you don't take my word for it, you could always—"

"Don't even think about it!"

I stopped chuckling, but answered with a gleam in my eyes. "Too late for that, but back to your question. I stay there because it's safer, primarily. I can hear you or anyone else coming from a mile away, and I know it like the back of my hand. Be difficult for someone to ambush me without my turning it around on them. Also, it's quiet. I'm sure there have been many times the background noise from your house has kept you awake. And besides, it was given to me by a friend, so I check on it when I'm in Ohio and make sure all's well, like I promised him."

"A friend gave you the cave? How do you give someone a cave?"

I explained about my friend's tribe discovering the cave, then him seeing his tribe killed off, and making his last stand.

"How terrible," she said softly.

I studied her. "It was his choice. He had no control over anything except how he died, and the Mingoes were very proud. To him, it was a good death. One befitting the legacy of his people."

"Maybe. But when death is all you have left, it's sad no matter how you cut it. It's late, Bones. I'm leaving."

I touched her arm then, all seriousness. "About what you told me earlier, I want you to know it wasn't your fault. Bloke like that would've done the same to any girl, and no doubt has before and since you."

"Are you speaking from experience?"

I let my arm drop and I stepped back, giving her an inscrutable look. "No, I'm not. I've never treated a woman in such a manner, and most especially not a virgin. Like I said before—you don't have to be human to have some behaviors be beneath you."

She didn't have an answer for that, so she just hit the gas and drove away.


	12. Chapter 112

A/N: Ok, so I'm re-working this chapter based on a few reviews that it followed the book a bit too closely. Which occurred to me at the time, but I was trying to stay true to the action, and for me the action sequences are harder to cover, because while I want my readers to stay in tune with what's going on, there's a fine line I have to try not to cross. So, I'm going to take another stab at this and try for more of a Bones perspective rather than sticking to making sure all the action is covered. *fingers crossed that I get it right this time*

I made quick work of Sergio, wrapping him in plastic and popping him in the trunk, whistling to myself. Kitten had performed even better than I had expected - she was a natural, really. It was an odd thing to be a natural at, killing vampires, but it was yet another way we were perfectly suited. Tonight had just shown me again that we were meant to be together, hence the whistling.

Once done, I went over to where Kitten was hunched against the car, a tense look on her face, holding her wrist. She tried to make out like she was fine, but I removed her makeshift sleeve-bandage and saw that it was a nasty bite, with the flesh torn. I pulled out my knife to heal her and she tried to stop me, but I just gave her a look and told her not to be irrational. I scored my hand and held it over her wrist. Both of us watched as her tear healed; it seemed more intimate in a way even than when she had to take blood from my fingers - both of us pressed against the car, penned in by the door, knee to knee.

She tried to scoot back, but was trapped by the mangled car. Curious, I asked why he went for the wrist instead of the neck, and was tartly informed that thanks to my no-knickers idea, he'd been trying to feel her up - the lucky bastard - so she'd crawled into the backseat to distract him, never thinking of her wrists as possible bite areas since all the others vamps she knew had gone for her neck.

Inwardly I snorted. "Yeah, including me, right? The car swerved off the road so fast, I thought you two were already sprawling inside. What made him pull off so erratically then?"

Flippantly, she replied, "I told him to come and get me."

Suddenly, she tensed and asked if he was really, really dead, seeing as she'd always cut their heads off to be sure. I laughed, the idea of this 22 year old girl critiquing my work, when I'd spent almost 200 years killing vampires. I assured her he was, in fact, finally dead, but that we needed to move the car before some good Samaritan or a copper came along to check it out. I took a look at her wrist and the edges were already sealing together. "That'll hold you."

Again, she started fretting over how she was supposed to drive the mangled car, to which I merely gave her a cocky grin. "Don't fret. Have it all worked out."

I pulled my mobile out of my jacket and called my mate to tell him his services were needed, and where we were. "Step on it, right?"

"Sit tight, Kitten. Our ride will be here in a minute. Don't worry, he's nearby. Told him I might have a use for him tonight. Course, he was probably figuring on it being a little later in the evening."

I paused and gave her an appraising look. "You left with him right quick, didn't you? He must have been quite pleased with you." Lucky, evil, filthy, rotten, perverted bastard that he was...

"Yeah, real happy. Color me flattered."

I moved closer to look at her wrist again. Now only a thin red line remained as evidence Sergio ever met her. I leaned back a bit, but didn't let go.

"Trust me, luv. I know you don't, but you should. You did a smashing job tonight, by the way. That stake in his back was just a thought away from his heart. It slowed him, as did the one in his neck. You would have had him even if I wasn't here. You're strong, Kitten. Be glad of it." We make the perfect team, luv, why can't you see that? Not all of us vamps are like Sergio... Wasn't I right behind you to help you when you needed it? I'll always be right behind you, pet, whether you want me there or not. You're stuck with me now. I thought I knew before, but after tonight I know for sure. You're perfect...

She shot me a sarcastic glance. "Glad? That's not quite the word I'd use. Relieved? You could say that. Relieved I'm alive and there's one less murderer prowling around for naïve girls. But glad? Glad would be if I never had this lineage. Glad would be if I had two normal parents and a bunch of friends, and the only thing I'd ever killed was time. Or if even once I had been to a club

just to go dancing and have fun instead of ending up staking something that tried to kill me. That's glad. This is just…existing. Until the next time."

She pulled her wrist from my hand and scooted back a bit from me. A look that was way too heavy for her years crossed her face. Then it was replaced with self-pity. I knew she was unhappy with her life, and that she'd been given some heavy loads to bear, but she wasn't the only one who'd known suffering in this world, and she was well old enough for the pity party to stop.

"Rot."

"Excuse me?"

"Rot, I said. You play the hand you're dealt just like everyone else in this bloody world. You have gifts people would kill for, no matter that you scorn them. You have a mum who loves you and a nice house to go home to. Sod your backwoods neighbors who look down their ignorant noses at you for your lack of a father. This world is a big place and you've got an important role to play in it. Think everyone goes around whistling about the life they lead? Think everyone is given the power to choose the way their fate goes? Sorry, luv, it doesn't work that way. You hold the ones you love close and fight the battles you can win, and that, Kitten, is how it is." C'mon, Kitten, time to grow up. Use the skills you've got. Make the most of what you have, and _who_ you have - me.

"What would you know about it?" She asked bitterly.

I threw back my head and laughed before I seized her shoulders tightly, moving closer until my mouth almost touched hers.

"You…haven't…the…slightest…inkling of what I've been through, so don't…tell…me…what I know." There was a hint of menace in my voice, the way I bit out each syllable, the weight of _my_ years. I could hear her heart start to pound, and I loosened my grip on her shoulders so my fingers no longer dug into her skin, but my hands remained.

Unconsciously she licked her lips, and she watched as my eyes follow the movement. The air jumped between us until you could almost see it crackling. In answer to hers, I slid my tongue out and traced it across my bottom lip. Again, I watched her follow the movement, almost like she was mesmerized. So close, if I just lean forward a tiny bit...

Ted's horn blaring nearly made her jump out of her skin. Bugger bugger bugger bugger BUGGER...

"Bones…!" she nearly grabbed me, frightened of discovery.

Brassed off as I was at the timing of it (shite! I almost got to kiss her!) I still had work to do, and it started right now.

"Ted, you buggering bastard, good of you to arrive so quickly!" I said insincerely.

"Hope I didn't interrupt nothin' between you and that gal. Two of you looked awful cozy."

"No!" She bleated. "Nothing going on here!"

Ted laughed and looked around the car, taking in the blood. "Sure…I can see that."

I gave Ted instruction his instructions, then went and fetched my motorbike and stashed it in the back of the truck with the Benz. I hopped into the back of the truck myself and called out, "Come on, Kitten. Your taxi's waiting."

She questioned us riding in the back, and I explained that Ted preferred not to be seen with me. She made a sarcastic comment about envying him for being smart about that. She wouldn't sit in the car where her blood was splashed all over the seats (not that I blamed her there), so she huddled into a ball on a crate, as far away from me as she could get in the cramped interior of the truck. _Dammit, we had been so close earlier..._ In response, I perched nonchalantly on another crate.

"I know this isn't a concern for you, but is there enough oxygen in here?"

"Plenty of air. Just as long as there isn't any heavy breathing." I raised a brow while my eyes told her I hadn't missed an instant of our earlier moment. I know I'm breaking down your defenses, Kitten, it's just a matter of time...

"Well, then I'm safe. Absolutely safe." I gave her a knowing smile in return.

She glanced around the interior of the truck, searching for something to break the tension. "So who's this Hennessey you were asking about?"

Bollocks. How much to tell her? "Someone dangerous."

"Yeah, I gathered that. Sergio seemed pretty scared of him, so I didn't think he was a Boy Scout. I take it he's our next target?"

I paused, thinking. How much do I let her know? I don't want _him_ to know about _her_, and she's just reckless enough to go after him with or without me if I tell her why I'm _really_ after him. "He's someone I've been tracking, yes, but I'll be going after him alone."

That red headed temper came up at once. "Why? You don't think I can handle it? Or you still don't trust me to keep this secret? I thought we covered this already!"

Oh, bollocks. Now not only do I have to deal with tracking Hennessey, but I have one brassed off Kitten to calm. "I think there are certain things you'd do well to stay out of," I hedged.

"You said something about Sergio being Hennessey's best client. What do you mean by that? What did Hennessey do to whoever hired you? Do you know, or did you just take the contract on him without asking?"

I let out a sigh. Bloody woman was too inquisitive for her own good. "Questions like that are why I won't tell you more about it. Suffice it to say there's a reason why Ohio's been such a hazardous place for young girls lately. It's why I don't want you chasing after vampires without me. Hennessey's more than just a sod who bleeds someone when he can get away with it. Beyond that, don't ask."

Snippily, she asked how long I'd been going after him, stating that at least _that_ couldn't be top secret. I frowned at the tone in her voice. "'Round eleven years."

She almost fell off her crate, she looked so shocked. "Good God! He must have a real fancy price on his head! Come on, what did he do? He pissed off someone rich, obviously."

"Not everything is about money."

"How did you become a vampire?" Even she seemed surprised she'd asked the question.

I arched my brow. "Want an interview with the vampire, luv? It didn't turn out too well for the reporter in the movie."

She murmured, "I never saw it. My mother thought it was too violent," then started laughing.

I grinned as well and looked meaningfully toward the car. "I can see that. Good thing you didn't watch it, then. Heaven knows what might have happened." Good God, if she was this lethal after being sheltered all her life, who knows how she might have turned out if she'd been allowed to see violent films? I shuddered to think.

Laughter fading, she looked at me pointedly until I finally acquiesced on the condition that she had to answer one of my questions. "Got an hour to burn anyhow."

"Fine, but I hardly see the point. You already know everything about me."

I gave her a look of pure heat and I whispered, "Not everything."

That charged energy came back between us in full force and she fidgeted about on her crate, pulling herself into an even smaller ball. Finally, she asked when I was changed.

"Let's see, it was 1790 and I was in Australia. I did this bloke a favor by sharing what little food I had with him and he thought he was returning it by making me a vampire."

"What?" She seemed shocked. "You're Australian? I thought you were English!"

I smiled blankly and answered that I was a little of each. I'd been born and raised in England, but changed into a vampire in Australia.

"You have to go into more detail than that."

I told her I'd been twenty four and a month.

She looked totally shocked and blurted out that we were almost the same age. I snorted. "Sure. Give or take two hundred and seventeen years."

"Er, you know what I mean. You look older than twenty-four."

"Thanks ever so." I laughed at her obvious remorse over that last statement, but put her out of her misery. "Times were different. People aged far more rapidly. You bloody folks don't know how good you have it."

"Tell me more. Please."

I leaned forward, all seriousness now. I told her, my eyes closing as I remembered. That my mum was a whore, I grew up in a whorehouse, that my mum died of syphilis young. That I was a thief and a beggar. That I earned my living as a whore as well. That I was arrested and almost sentenced to hanging, but was saved by one of my clients and sent to work as a convict. About my three mates- Timothy, Charles, and Ian. About Ian escaping, then coming back and turning us.

By the time I was finished, she had uncurled from her ball and looked amazed. "Your turn." My eyes opened to stare right into hers. "Tell me what happened with that sod who hurt you."

She demurred and hunched defensively at the memory. "God, Bones, I don't want to talk about that. It's humiliating."

My stare didn't waver. "I just told you that I used to be a thief, a beggar, and a whore. Is it really fair for you to cry foul over my question?"

She shrugged to try to hide how it still hurt her and summarized it briskly. "It's a common story. Boy meets girl, girl is naïve and stupid, boy uses girl and then hits the road."

I just arched my brow and waited.

She threw up her hands and launched into a tale of meeting a bloke and going out a few times, then the bloke luring her back to his place and him basically forcing himself on her. That she'd told him she wasn't ready, didn't want to, wanted to get to know him better first. I could feel that scalding jealously, along with an almost overpowering rage, take over me as I listened to her talk about how she could have thrown him off as she was stronger than him, but that she wanted to make him happy. The rage grew and grew inside me as she said that she just stayed still, it didn't hurt as much if she didn't move. I literally had to force back my growls. Oh yes, I was going to find this bloke, and we were going to have a party for two that he wouldn't live to remember.

I kept my expression blank as I watched Kitten blink back tears and take a ragged breath. "That's about it. One miserable time and then he didn't call me anymore. I was worried at first—I thought something bad might have happened to him." She gave a bitter laugh. "The next weekend I found him making out with another girl at the same club where we were supposed to go. He told me then that he'd never really liked me and to run along because it was past my bedtime. That same night, I killed my first vampire. In a way I owe it to being used. I was so upset I wanted to either die or murder someone. At least having some creature try to rip out my throat guaranteed me one or the other."

I didn't make any of my usual jokes. There was nothing funny in either of our stories. When she dared to meet my eyes again, I was simply staring at her, no scorn or judgment on my face. The silence stretched, seconds into minutes. It filled with something unexplainable as we kept looking in each other's eyes. Our stories were so alike; we'd both had things happen to us that we were powerless to stop, and yet we'd overcome them to try and use them to our advantage. The more time I spent around Kitten, the more amazed I was at how much we had in common, and the more thankful I was that Fate had dropped her into my lap. And the more determined I was to make her mine.

Suddenly the truck jostled to a stop. With a slight shake to clear my head, I said, "We're nearly at the place, and there's still work to be done. Hold open that bag for me, Kitten."

I unwrapped Sergio, popped his head off neatly and dropped it into the bag Kitten was holding.

For the first time since I'd met her, she went a bit girlish. "Yuck." She thrust the bag back into my hands. "You take it."

"Squeamish? That lump of rotting skull is worth fifty thousand dollars. Sure you don't want to cradle it a bit?" I teased.

Ted and I teased Kitten a bit about enjoying the ride (really, can you blame us? She was so easy to wind up) and she tartly asked if we were finished.

"Stay in the trailer for a minute. Something I have to take care of."

"What?" If curiosity killed the cat, I was hoping this one had nine lives...

"Business. Got a head to deliver, and I want you to stay out of it. The less people know of you, the better."

I took off, and met my client at our appointed meeting place. They glanced into the bag, satisfied it was Sergio, and paid me the 50K promised. About half an hour later, I made it back to the truck. Kitten was still sitting in the back, swinging her legs in their fuck me boots over the edge. Image after image immediately appeared in my head... but still, the night wasn't finished.

I jumped into the trailer, untied my bike, and carried it one-handed to the ground. "Hop on, pet. We're finished."

She climbed behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist for leverage. It was heaven to feel her warmth pressed so close to me, her touching me without fear, especially to feel her long legs twine around mine. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and finish the moment from earlier. Instead I realized I had to bide my time and just handed her a helmet.

It was a two-hour drive back to the cave, and we arrived shortly after three a.m. - early for me, late for her. Her truck was parked about a quarter mile away from the entrance to the cave. I pulled to a stop next to it, and she jumped off.

"Off so soon, pet? The evening is young." I gave her a devilish look and curled my lips. She just collected her keys and climbed tiredly into the truck.

"Maybe for you, but I'm going home. Go find yourself a nice neck to suck on."

I uncurled myself from the bike. "Going home wearing that dress with blood all over it? Your mum might worry at seeing you that way. You can come inside and change. Promise I won't peek." I gave an exaggerated wink that made her smile in spite of her weariness.

She said she'd change somewhere on the way home, and asked when the next job was, hoping she'd get a break.

"Sorry, Kitten. Tomorrow night you're on again. Then after that I fly to Chicago to see my old friend Hennessey. With luck, I'll be back on Thursday, because Friday I have another job for us…."

"Yeah, I get it," she grumbled and reminded me that her college classes started next week. It was clear that, arrangement for killing vampires or not, college was coming first with her. For now, Kitten, soon I hope to come first with you...

I agreed that we'd work something out between college and killing, then pulled a plastic envelope out my jacket, rifled through it a bit, then handed her some cash. "Your share."

"What's this?"

I shook my head with mirth. Only woman in the world to question when someone gives her money, most likely. Bloody mule headed woman. "This, luv, is twenty percent of the bounty Sergio had on his head. It's for your part in him losing his head. See, I reckon since I don't pay anything to the IRS, I may as well give their cut to you. Death and taxes. They go hand in hand."

"Umm, thanks." She seemed stupified.

I grinned. "You earned it, pet."

She looked at the large wad of bills still left in the envelope and asked if I was moving out of the cave.

I chuckled. "Is that why you think I stay there? Out of lack of funds?"

Her tone was defensive. "Why else? It's not a Hilton. You have to pirate electricity and you wash in an ice-cold river. I didn't think you did that just because you liked seeing your parts shrink!"

That _really_ made me laugh. And also pleased that she was even thinking of my parts. "Concerned for my bits and pieces, are you? Let me assure you, they're fine. Of course, if you don't take my word for it, you could always—"

"Don't even think about it!"

I stopped chuckling, but answered with a gleam in my eyes that the reason I stayed there was because it was safer - I knew it like the back of my hand. It'd be difficult for someone to ambush me, and since a friend had given it to me, I checked on it whenever I was in Ohio, like I'd promised him.

"A friend gave you the cave? How do you give someone a cave?"

I explained about my friend's tribe discovering the cave, then him seeing his tribe killed off, and making his last stand.

"How terrible," she said softly.

I studied her. "It was his choice. He had no control over anything except how he died, and the Mingoes were very proud. To him, it was a good death. One befitting the legacy of his people."

"Maybe. But when death is all you have left, it's sad no matter how you cut it. It's late, Bones. I'm leaving."

I touched her arm then, all seriousness. "About what you told me earlier, I want you to know it wasn't your fault. Bloke like that would've done the same to any girl, and no doubt has before and since you."

"Are you speaking from experience?" she shot out.

I let my arm drop and I stepped back. "No, I'm not. I've never treated a woman in such a manner, and most especially not a virgin. Like I said before—you don't have to be human to have some behaviors be beneath you." I'd never treat you like that Kitten, never... if you'd give me a chance, I'd treat you like a queen...

She didn't have an answer for that, so she just hit the gas and drove away.


	13. Chapter 12

_A/N: You're going to hate me at the end of this, but don't worry, the next chapter is already written and ready for posting soon!_

Kitten was late the next night; a rarity for her. When she finally arrived, it was clear she'd been shopping. I had a right good time snooping through her purchases and winding her up about not getting anything for me. She made out as if she'd bought me a massager - as if vampires get muscles aches and pains - and I had a good laugh before giving it back to her to give to her gramps. I teased her about being a bad liar, and she took it with the good grace she always did - which is to say, none.

We made our way further into the cave, towards her changing nook, while she asked me about tonight's mark. Tonight's mark... well, tonight was a bit different, not that she'd know that yet. I had a slightly different evening in mind for her tonight. We'd see how she reacted when I threw her the unplanned (to her) curveball.

"Let's see, your bloke's over two hundred years old, naturally brown hair, but he changes his color periodically, talks with an accent, and is very quick in combat. Good news is, you can keep your knickers on. He'll be smitten with you on sight. Any questions?"

"What's his name?"

"He'll probably make one up, most vampires do, but his name is Crispin. Get me when you're ready. I'll be watching telly."

I (tried to) nonchalantly lounge across a chair and watch CourtTV while Kitten dressed. I loved the channel - when you've been up in front of a hanging judge, with no real lawyer and no real defense and your only savior was a client who fucked your way out of death (well, into another form of it, but she did her best), it was fascinating to watch the American legal system. Bloody blokes had free cable telly to watch in jail! I had to pirate mine through a complicated system. Lazy sods.

About an hour later, Kitten emerged in a dress that was a bit longer and not quite as low cut as the night before, but still tight and quite fetching. She was wearing her fuck me boots (best quid I ever spent, in my opinion) and had her hair and makeup done. I pretended to be involved in the program so she wouldn't see just how ready I was to put tonight's plan into action.

Normally, we rode separately to jobs, but seeing as tonight was different, and the place we were going she'd _never_ be able to find on her own, we rode together. She drove while I gave directions coolly, my excitement mounting. Finally, we reached the turn-off down a narrow lane and parked around behind what looked like an average industrial building.

There was a line at the door, but I just took Kitten's hand and went straight for the bouncer, Trixie. We exchanged greetings and she let us right in. Immediately I could feel Kitten tense up - I knew she was feeling all the supernatural energy in the air. She gave a low, mean whisper.

"What the hell is this?"

I gestured around the room. "This, luv, is a vampire club. It doesn't even really have a name, although the locals call it Bite. All sorts of things come in here to mix and mingle comfortably, not having to hide their true natures. Why, right over there you have some ghosts at the bar."

She looked and I saw her blanche a bit. "My God…there's so many of them…." She looked around in disbelief. "I hadn't known there were that many vampires in the world…"

I explained how many vampires there were in the world, how we were everywhere. That in some places, the line between the natural and the supernatural was thinner, and that Ohio was one of them, and that young vampires in particular like that.

"You're telling me my state is…a vampire hot spot?"

"Don't feel too unlucky. There are dozens around the globe."

A ghoul brushed past us, and she whipped her head around to try and see what it was. She pressed her mouth nearly to my ear so I could hear and whispered, "What was that?"

I was momentarily at a loss, not registering what had stumped her. "What?"

"That." Impatiently. "That…thing. It's not a vampire, I can tell, but it's definitely not human. What is it?"

"Oh, him. He's a ghoul. Flesh-eater. You know, like Night of the Living Dead, only they don't walk so funny or look as hideous."

She looked a bit peaked at that bit of information, so I decided it was time to proceed with my plan. "Here." I pointed to a seat at the bar. "Wait there, have a drink. Your bloke will show up soon."

"Are you crazy? This place is crawling with monsters! I don't want to be an appetizer!" she fairly screeched.

I just laughed and explained Bite's "no unwilling partners" policy, then disappeared off into the crowd.

I made my way to the back of the bar and just watched. I saw the bartender come up to take her drink order and her snap at him, then it looked like she apologized. They had a bit of a chat, and he moved on to other customers. Good, didn't think Verses would want me killing his best bartender. And I would, if he kept eyeing my Kitten like that.

Then I saw two young human lads make their way up to her. She was a great deal more friendly with them, which made me growl audibly. Just because they were human, they were automatically nice? I watched them try to chat her up for a bit and finally I'd had enough.

"Sod off, wankers."

They gave me one frightened look before scarpering off, then I shoved the occupant in the seat next to her to the side and slid into it. Time for the real plan to commence.

"What are you doing here? What if he comes in?" She hissed while looking at her drink.

I just laughed and held out a hand. "We haven't met. My name is Crispin."

She furiously whispered, "I don't think that's funny."

"Don't want to shake my hand, do you? That's not nice manners. Didn't your mum teach you better?"

"Will you stop?" That red headed temper was making itself known. She'd gone from being quiet to heading towards screeching. "Quit playing! I have a job to do. The real Crispin's going to be here and he'll be put off by your blathering! God, don't you have any sense?"

"But I'm not lying, pet. My name is Crispin. Crispin Phillip Arthur Russell III. That last part was merely a bit of fancy on my mum's part, since clearly she had no idea who my da was. Still, she thought adding numerals after my name would give me a bit of dignity. Poor sweet woman, ever reluctant to face reality."

She began to have a look of incredulity on her face "You're Crispin? You? But your name—"

"Told you," I interrupted. "Most vampires change their name when they change from human. Crispin was my human name, just as I said. Don't go by it much anymore, because that bloke is dead." I explained about being turned and then being lain in the natives' burial grounds, and rising, seeing nothing but bones. "I knew it was what I was then, for from bones I rose and Bones I became, all in that night."

She seemed a bit stunned, so I finally let her in on the plan. The real one, that is. "This is all your doing."

"My doing? How could I have anything to do with…this?"

"You said last night when you were moaning about your life that you'd never been to a club just to have fun and go dancing. Well, pet, this is it. Tonight you and I will drink and dance and absolutely murder no one. Consider it your night off. You will be Cat and I will be Crispin, and you'll send me home with a dry mouth and aching balls just like you would if we'd never met before."

"Was this all some trick to get me to go on a date with you?" She scowled as she drank her gin and tonic.

I gave her a sly grin. "Let you keep your knickers on, though, didn't I? Can't even appreciate the little things, you can't. Come on, luv, finish your drink and let's dance. Promise I'll be the perfect

gentleman. Unless you request otherwise."

She set her glass on the counter with a thud and said, "Sorry, _Crispin_, but I don't dance. Never learned how. You know, whole lack of a social life and all that."

"You've never been dancing? That deflowerer of yours never even took you out for a twirl? Bloody sod." Bloody sod indeed. Our party for two had just gotten upgraded to a party for two with some very interesting toys I didn't think he'd enjoy.

"Nope. I don't dance."

"Now you do."


	14. Chapter 13

_A/N: Yes, I know, I was evil to break it off in the last chapter just before getting to the good part! But, like I said in the beginning, I wanted to follow the points of action, not just go chapter by chapter, and I felt like Cat finding out Bones' human identity and then them dancing were two separate points of action. So, here we go..._

I dragged her to her feet, ignoring her protests and tries to pull free, and led her inside the crowd on the dance floor. I spun her around so her back was to me, and wrapped one arm around her waist while the other still held her hand. I pulled her up close to me, back to front, the heat of her pressed up against me hip to hip.

"I swear if you try anything…" she threatened.

"Relax, I'm not going to bite." I laughed at my own joke then began to sway, hips and shoulders rubbing against hers.

"Come on, it's easy. Move the way I do, we'll start you out slow."

Slowly at first, she followed my movements, but after a bit she began to sway her hips and move on her own. I could almost see the walls she'd erected around herself come down as she began to undulate against me, and God did it feel fucking amazing. I twirled her around to face me, still tightly gripping her hand, afraid she might remember who she was dancing with and bolt, but she let go of my hand and raised her arms above her head, head falling back, crimson locks trailing down her back and swaying with her as she gyrated. It was a sight to see. Kitten? _My_ Kitten? The prude, priggish, vampire-hating Kitten letting go and dancing sexily for _me_? Because I had no doubts she was dancing for anyone else.

I slid my hands to her waist and she suddenly splayed her hands across my chest, rubbing across it and pulling me closer until our bodies aligned and her breasts brushed my chest. Fuck me. I don't know what the hell happened to my regular Kitten, but I'll keep this one, please!

As soon as I'd thought that, she took it one step further and twisted her hips against mine. I could feel the pure heat coming from her and I tightened my grip on her until there was no space between us. I wound one hand into her red locks and tugged her head back.

She gave me a smug smile and said, "You were right, it's easy. And I'm a fast learner."

She was still curled around me, so hot it felt like she was burning me. "Playing with fire, Kitten?" I spoke directly in her ear to be heard, and my mouth grazed her soft cheek. In answer, her tongue licked my neck in one long, warm stroke.

I couldn't hold it back - I shuddered all over. I ground my body against hers, jerking her head back with my handful of her hair and our eyes locked. My plan for tonight was succeeding admirably. But what she did next took it to the next level.

She licked her lips.

That was the only invitation I needed, and I crashed my mouth across hers, swallowing her moan at our first touch. I caressed her lips briefly with my tongue before exploring her mouth and twining around hers without ever wanting to stop. I could feel her heart pounding everywhere; her body held against mine, her tongue against mine, even in her lips. Oh yes, Kitten was just as affected by this as I was. We deepened the kiss until we were drawing on each other's tongues, her nails raking my back.

At the first touch of our lips, I'd sent my blood south and kept it there, hard, for her. The more she drew on my tongue, the harder I got. I rubbed my hips against hers and the friction nearly caused both of us to come right there on the dance floor. I could feel her loins pulsating in time with the music and the smell, oh fuck me the smell of her arousal was almost more than I could bear. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever smelled, and I knew then I'd do anything I had to do to keep smelling it, as often as possible, for the rest of my life.

I only stopped the kiss when someone jostled us for no longer dancing. I gave them a rude snap and could hear Kitten gulping in air as I dragged her toward the far wall, away from the dance floor. Her hair tumbled in her face from the speed of me pulling her, and I brushed it back to kiss her again. This time I put everything into the kiss. All the longing, all the lust, all the love, all the need, everything - I put it all into this kiss, since I knew she wouldn't listen if I tried to say it with words. I wasn't sure exactly why she was letting her guard down and letting me close to her now, but I was damn sure I was going to use it to every single benefit I could get.

Finally, I pulled back to look at her. "Kitten, you need to make a decision. Either we stay here and behave or we leave now and I promise you"—my voice dipped lower and I spoke the words against her lips—"if we leave, I won't behave."

Her hands went around my neck and I kissed her again, one hand still wound in her hair and the other low on her back, making slow circles against the thin fabric of her dress. With each pass, the circles went lower and lower and the kiss went deeper and deeper. Finally, after another few minutes of ravishing her mouth, I pulled away. "Decide now, luv, because I can't take much more of this before I make up your mind and carry you off."

"Bones…" I waited on tenterhooks to hear her decision. Suddenly, I felt an energy in the air I recognized. One I was not expecting to feel and one that was decidedly _not_ welcome.

"Bloody frigging hell, what is he doing here?" My whole body stiffened and I hardened against her hands, not knowing what was going to happen with him here but wanting to be ready for anything - and wanting to be ready to throw her behind me at a moment's notice.

She squirmed confusedly in my arms to see behind her. "Who? Who's here?"

"Hennessey."


	15. Chapter 14

_A/N: So, I know there's a lot of dialogue in here, but I really couldn't figure out a way to re-configure it so that the story was still told, but in a different way. I tried to add as much new Bones content as I could to make up for it. Hope it worked!_

Fuck it all, everything had been going so perfectly, I just _knew_ she was going to say she wanted to leave and continue our very pleasant activities, then this wanker has to show up and ruin my night. Even though I'd been after him for more than a decade, I'd be more than willing to ignore him and leave if Kitten gave the word. However, she seemed a bit dazed.

"I thought Sergio said he was in Chicago. He's supposed to be in Chicago!"

I began cursing and spun us so my back was to the door, but she could see him. It took me a minute to shake off the mood we'd been in just moments ago, it had been so strong, but I finally cleared my mind and pointed him out to her.

"Keep your eye on him, luv. Black hair. Mustache, thin beard, dark skin, tall. Wearing a white shirt, see him?"

She leaned her head against my shoulder (again, I was moments away from just saying fuck Hennessey and dragging her back to the cave to finish what we'd started) until she spotted him, asking if Sergio lied about his whereabouts.

"Sergio didn't lie," I said grimly. "That means somehow Hennessey got word that he's gone missing. He knew Sergio was in this area, so he's poking around here for answers. He's no doubt rightly worried about what Sergio would have said to whoever made him disappear."

"Well, whatever the reason, he's here. Let's go for him."

"No." There was no way I was letting my Kitten anywhere near him. Especially now, when she'd just started to thaw in her attitude towards me.

As expected, she immediately put up a fuss. "No? Why not? He just got dropped into our lap!"

My voice was so low, it was almost a growl, and my expression was rock hard. "Because he's a bloody treacherous sod and I don't want you anywhere near him. You're going straight home as soon as he's away from the door. I'll handle this myself."

And, on cue, here came the temper. "You know, for someone who keeps telling me to trust him, you sure don't extend the same courtesy. I thought tonight was a regular job, so I'm all staked out and ready to roll. I took on vampires before you, remember? All by myself and without someone to hold my hand through it. Now I have training and backup, and you still want me to turn tail and run? Don't kiss me like a woman if you're going to treat me like a child."

I was beyond frustrated. "This isn't about treating you like a child. Bugger, I clearly don't see you that way! Look, I told you Hennessey's not just a bloke who goes out and snatches up a girl when his tummy grumbles. He's in another league, Kitten. He's a very bad sort."

"Then quit arguing and let's go get him," she said. "He sounds just like the kind of person I'd love to take out."

I thought it over for a moment, then realized that this was very likely our best chance to nab Hennessey. Kitten was right; he had been dropped in our laps, and we were both there, she was staked out and ready to kill, and really the only thing stopping me (besides not wanting her to get hurt) was my cock. Time to think with the head on my shoulders. Finally I let out a sigh.

"I don't like this, not at all, but…fine. We'll go for him. So much for a night off. If anything goes wrong, anything at all, you hit that panic button. Now, here's what we'll do…."

I gave her a quick plan: she would wait at the bar and we would pretend to be on a bad first date. Then she'd be able to leave with Hennessey if he approached her. It would also give me a chance to get up close to him, with the first date ruse, and try to lure him outside where he and I could dance, one on one, keeping Kitten out of it entirely.

I watched as Kitten seated herself at the bar, then about five minutes later Hennessey made his way over to her. With her eye-catching hair and vampire-like skin, she was almost like a vampire homing beacon.

I let them have some time to chat a bit, let him get a bit relaxed, before making my way over. I picked my timing perfectly, because I arrived just as he introduced himself.

He smiled. "Call me Hennessey."

"Don't mind if I do, mate. Been a while, hasn't it?" I bent to kiss Kitten's cheek and she flinched, either out of habit or playing out our bad date ruse, I wasn't sure, but I was hoping it was just acting. Hennessey didn't visibly react much, but I saw his mouth tighten.

"Bones. What an unexpected…surprise. This lovely young woman can't be with you. She's far too well mannered."

I gave him a dark look. "You're in my seat."

Kitten chided me for being rude. "This nice man was just keeping me company while you were away."

"Yes," Hennessey agreed, looking at me with a gleam in his eye. "Can't expect to leave such a pretty thing alone for long, old chap. Some monster might just…snatch her up."

"Funny you should say that." My voice was dark with threat. "I hear that's your specialty."

His eyes narrowed and the air between us grew thick with threat. "Now, where would you ever hear something like that?"

I gave him a cold smile and told him that if you dig deep enough, you'd be amazed at the things you could find. Logan chose that moment to lean across the bar and tap Kitten's glass and remind us of the no-violence policy. Guess the air between us really was getting thick.

"Not here, gentlemen. You know the rules."

Hennessey waved a hand. "Yes, I know. Pesky ordinance, that, but one must abide by the rules of the house when one visits."

"Cut the fancy talk," I bit out. "It doesn't suit you. That is my chair and she is my date, so back off."

"Excuse me." Looking perfectly outraged, Kitten stood up and faced me. "I don't know how you're used to talking with other girls, but I will not be referred to in the third person as if I'm not even here! You don't own me, this is our first date. And I wouldn't have even gone out with you if you hadn't kept begging me." I paled a bit at that, since I really _had_ sort of engineered our 'date.' "Our date is over. I'll call a cab. In the meantime, you can get lost."

Hennessey laughed. "You heard the lady. You know the rules. Only willing companions here, and she is clearly not willing. As she said, get lost."

I faced him, full of wrath. "Let's be men about this. Why don't we go outside and settle this, you and me? Been a long time coming."

Hennessey responded coolly, "Oh, we'll settle this, mark my words. Not right now, but soon. You've been meddling where you shouldn't for too long."

"Oohhh, I'm shakin' in me boots," I mocked. "Another time, another place, forward to it." At that, I stalked off.

I made my way towards the back of the club, up to a small balcony, where I could still watch what was going on. I saw Kitten grab her purse and start throwing money on the bar, then Hennessey reach out to stop her. I growled a bit at his hand on her, but realized I had to bide my time until he was punished for touching my Kitten.

Seemingly reluctant, she sat back down and accepted a drink. He then reached out and kissed her hand. I really growled then - _I_ wanted to be the only person kissing my Kitten from here on out. They seemed to be busy chatting for a bit, and she had a few more drinks. I realized that if I was going to fight him later, I would need to be at full strength, and that meant I needed to feed.

I looked around the small balcony I was on, and there was a cute brunette that had been giving me the eye. I hit her with the green in my gaze and she instantly became compliant. My fangs sunk into her neck and I took several deep pulls as she sagged against me. Suddenly, I felt eyes on me.

I looked up, and there was Kitten, staring at me through the glass wall that separated us. We both seemed helpless to look away from each other as I continued to feed, swallowing occasionally. After a few pulls, I raised my head, scored my thumb on my fang and closed the holes on the girl's neck, then instructed her to go.

Kitten had made her way over to me by the time I had finished, and the brunette passed her with a lazy smile on her face.

"Didn't your mum tell you it's rude to stare at someone when they eat?"

She seemed to be in some sort of stupor, but my words brought her out of it. "That girl…she's okay?"

"Of course. She's used to it. That's what most of them are here for, I told you that. They're the menu, with legs."

I moved towards her, but she took a step back. Fuck. I frowned. "What's wrong? Look, the girl's fine. It's not like you didn't know I was a vampire. Did you just think I never fed?"

"I came to tell you we're hitting it off. Probably be leaving in about twenty minutes." She began to rub her head.

"Are you feeling alright?"

She gave a bark of laughter. "No, I am not alright. Very far from it, actually. Earlier I kissed you, and now I just watched you make a Slurpee out of a girl's neck. Add to that a headache and it makes me not in the least all right."

I went towards her again, and again she backed away. "Don't touch me."

Fuck fuck fuck FUCK. I muttered a curse and clenched my fists but stayed put. "Fine. We'll talk about this later. Go on back, before he starts to get antsy."

"We won't talk about it later," she said flatly while walking back toward the door. "In fact, I never want to speak about it again."

I watched her go back down and sit with Hennessey again. He noticed that something was wrong, and after a bit of coaxing got something out of her, I'm not sure what. Suddenly he stood, a polite smile on his face. She hauled on his arm, protesting, but he went off, in search of me, no doubt. Not wanting to start the fight yet (and not wanting Verses to kill me for starting a fight in his club) I made myself disappear in the crowds. I could see them, but neither of them could see me.

I watched Hennessey search the club for me (good luck to him - being mates with the owner meant I knew all the hidden nooks and crannies) and with the rest of my attention watched the two human lads from before go back to trying to chat up Kitten. She wasn't as responsive this time, and she seemed tired, or in pain. They handed her a new drink and she accepted it, but she seemed off, somehow. They showed her some car keys, it looked like, then it looked like they tried to pull her out of the club. Little did they know Kitten could wipe the floor with both of them without breaking a sweat (or a nail), but I still kept a watchful eye on the situation.

Finally, they left and Hennessey, fruitless in his search for me, returned to her and they left the club. I readied myself for a fight that had been eleven years in the making. Add in the fact that he was leaving with the girl I loved, and I couldn't _wait_ to get the party started.


	16. Chapter 15

_A/N: First, thank you to MsParker2U for what has to be the best review I've ever gotten as a writer! xoxo Kelly! Second, I certainly hope there's enough original content in this one for you guys, since I had to basically write from scratch what happens from the time Cat and Hennessey leave the club until the time Cat wakes to Bones giving her blood. Also had to write the fight scene, which I'm not too good at, so I hope you forgive me. And finally, thanks to my bestie sunshinelvr, who isn't even reading this story because she refuses to read the series no matter how many times I bring it up, for our long conversation on how much we love the British phrase "tosser." :)_

I watched Hennessey walk out the door with Kitten, and I noticed that while she normally pretended to be drunk, doing a bit of a weaving walk, something was different about her tonight. Something was off, and I didn't like the feeling I had.

I watched from the shadows outside Bite as they climbed into his Mercedes and were off. I waited the requisite time to follow, although my weird feeling had me following a little more closely than normal. Things seemed to be going along normal enough, when suddenly the car swerved to the side of the road and Kitten's door opened. She rolled out, not because she was fighting Hennessey, but to vomit. I knew then that something was indeed off - Kitten could drink most men triple her size under the table without so much as a slur in her voice. I sped up a bit to get closer, and what I saw made me more enraged than I had ever been.

Hennessey was dragging Kitten away from the car by her hair. She didn't seem to be fighting back, either, which was another telling sign that something was truly amiss. Then, the fucker untied the halter of her dress, unhooked her push up bra and caressed her breasts. The icing on my rage cake came when the tosser bit her. She seemed completely out of it, and I was almost on them when my cell phone beeped - a page. A page that could only have come from one watch. She was in serious trouble indeed.

A blackout rage filled me as I flew towards them. I ripped him away from her and had my silver knife in my hand before he had even turned around. A quick glance at Kitten showed her to be slumped, unconscious, against a tree, her dress pulled down to her waist and looking dangerously pale. I was fighting Hennessey harder and faster than I'd ever fought anyone before, when the boot of his car opened and a large vampire popped out. Figures Hennessey wouldn't even fight his own battles; he'd bring a bodyguard. What a disgrace of a vampire.

As I spun around to fight off the bodyguard, Hennessey jumped back in his car and took off. This vamp knew how to fight, too, and we had an all out brawl that ended with him losing an eye and, finally, losing his life at the end of my knife.

I rushed back to Kitten and knelt behind her. I ripped my wrist open and held it to her mouth, working her throat with my hand to get as much blood as possible down her, as her pulse was dangerously weak.

Finally, she said faintly, "Stop that, you know I hate that." She spat out the last mouthful and tried to pull away, but I held her tightly and spun her so I could see her face.

"Bloody hell, you're all right. Your heart slowed for a minute. Scared the wits out of me."

I could see her taking in her surroundings, and again faintly, she asked, "Where's Hennessey?"

I snorted disgustedly. "Blasted sod ran off. I was already on my way to you when I got your page. I pulled Hennessey off you, and we started to go at it when the bloody boot opens and this fellow pops out. He'd been hiding there as Hennessey's bleedin' bodyguard. Bloke jumped me and Hennessey took off. The bugger put up a hell of a fight, too. When I finished with him, I checked on you. That's when I saw that you were barely breathing and opened a vein. You really should have more, you're still pale as death."

"No." Softly.

I wanted to get to the bottom of what had her so off her game. "What happened back there? I thought you were just pretending and taking it too far to goad me. Worked as well, that's why I was almost on him when your page went off. Did he catch you off guard?"

I still held her in my arms as I watched her try to think. It seemed like she was having a problem processing her thoughts. I waited patiently as she tried to piece together what had made her let him get the better of her, and then made her ill.

"Um, I don't know. We got in his car and I started feeling sick…. No, that's wrong. I felt sick before, at the club. It started when we were dancing. Somehow I felt drunk. Everything was blurry and the lights seemed far off…. After a while it got under control, but when I left, it came back three times as bad. I couldn't move. My legs wouldn't work and my mind…I couldn't think. I even forgot about the watch until it got caught in his hair. Do you think he drugged me? Could he have known what we were up to?"

I pulled away enough to get a good look at her eyes. Fuck. "Your pupils are dilated enough to belong on a corpse. You've been drugged, all right. You say you felt it before he showed up, when we were dancing? That doesn't make sense…."

"It wasn't him... It was those kids. Ralphie and Martin, the ones you told to scram when we first arrived. They handed me a drink then and later when Hennessey went to find you. Those little pricks, they tried to pull me out to their car, they looked surprised when I wouldn't come…."

She seemed dizzy again and swayed a bit in my arms. I tried not to focus on the fact that she was naked from the waist up, as she was so obviously impaired.

"You need more blood."

She gave me a vague negative wave. "No. No. I'll be fine. I just need to sleep." With that, she was out again. I laid her gently on the ground and took off my shirt to put on her. I knew if she woke and realized she was still topless, she would very likely hold it against me. My Kitten was shy and a bit of a prude, and I knew being covered would make her feel better.

I put my denim jacket under her head as a pillow, and tried to stretch her out as comfortably as one could be on the cold ground. Then I began to dig a hole for the bloody bodyguard. Couldn't exactly leave a shriveled corpse lying around. I only knew Kitten was awake again when she asked, "Where is your shirt?"

"You're wearing it, luv." I plopped the plonker into the hole and began covering him up.

"You're absolutely stunning without it, you know that…?"

I stopped and grinned at her. "It hasn't escaped my notice that you only compliment me when you're intoxicated. Makes you right more agreeable, it does."

I gave the grave a final slap and went back over to her, kneeling over where she still lay.

"You're always gorgeous," she whispered, trailing a finger down my cheek as I knelt over her. "Kiss me again…."

It was too much. The sexual tension and passion between us at the club earlier, my fears that I might have lost her due to bloody Hennessey taking too much of her blood, kissing her while she wore nothing much more than my shirt - it was all more than I could bear, and I could feel the tight control I normally had over myself reach a breaking point.

I broke the kiss and gently removed myself from her arms, and she gave a noise of disappointment. _Finally, we might be getting somewhere..._

"Why did you stop? Is it because I taste bad?"

I smiled, giving her one more chaste kiss. "No. You taste like my blood, and I want you unbearably. But not like this. Let's get you safely tucked in. Up you go," and I picked her up.

"Bones," she sighed. "Know something? I'm not afraid of you, but you scare me…."

I saw her eyes closing towards unconsciousness again, but I answered her anyway. "You scare me, too, Kitten."


	17. Chapter 16

After taking Kitten back to the cave and putting her in bed, I went back to Bite in search of those two little shites, Ralphie and Martin. I found them in a van only about a mile from the club. I ripped open the sliding door to find one of them raping a young girl who I could smell was dead. Before either of them could move, I snapped the spine of the rapist. I then grabbed the other lad and didn't even need to green eye him to get him to talk; he was so petrified, he started babbling right away. Seems that since Kitten, with her unusual ability to withstand normal amounts of drugs and alcohol, didn't go merrily along with them after their first dose to her, they upped the quantity when they found her alone again. Still she didn't go along with their plan.

When she left with Hennessey, they picked out another girl and tripled the dose. This poor girl didn't stand a chance; she was most likely dead before they even got to their spot just a mile from Bite. Neither of them being the brightest of lads, they just thought she was solidly passed out and began their usual routine - knock a girl out, have their fun, then dump the girl somewhere. The little shite said they liked picking vampire clubs because no one usually missed the girls that frequented them, or the girls didn't usually report any crimes.

I was so enraged, I didn't even think of taking him back to Verses for his form of justice, which likely would have lasted about a week. I just ripped his throat out. Then I drove the van back to Bite, filled Verses in on what had been going on in his club so he could watch for it in the future, and left the shites' bodies for him to deal with. The van, with the girl still in it, I drove to the highway and left there. I figured the coppers would come along and find her, and find the blood of at least one of her killers. Maybe they would be able to make a positive identification so not only would her family be able to bury her, they'd know who killed her.

After that, I headed back to the cave to find Kitten still solidly asleep and cocooned in the duvet. I took a moment to smile at that - I was finding that I loved watching her sleep - then, seeing as my clothes were covered in blood and some of her vomit, I stripped down. I was knackered, so I just climbed into bed with Kitten and was out.

I was sleeping soundly, Kitten wrapped in my arms, and I had never slept so well. That is, until a scream ripped me awake and I leapt from the bed, looking all 'round to see where the danger was. "What's wrong? Someone here?" My voice was deadly and demanded an answer.

Evidently the danger was me. Kitten's color resembled a ripe tomato and she had her eyes squeezed shut as ground her teeth and asked, "Bones. Did you and I…did anything happen between us? I don't remember. You have to tell me the truth."

I was exasperated by her question and let her know it as I flopped back onto the bed. She jumped as if scalded and covered her face. I saw her giving me just a peek until she was sure I was covered from the waist down.

I gave her annoyed look. "You think I'd shag you while you were passed out cold? Think I'm no better than those two buggers who doctored your drink? Your dress was half ripped off and covered in vomit, no less, so I put a shirt on you and brought you here. Then I went back to the club."

"Oh." Now her face colored with embarrassed shame. "But then why are you naked?"

"Because after I was finished with your little boys and looked around futilely for Hennessey, it was dawn. I was knackered and had blood on my clothes, so I stripped them off and fell into bed. You certainly weren't doing anything but snoring and taking all the bloomin' covers again. Didn't really pause to think about it, sorry," I answered sarcastically.

"How did you finish with the boys? What happened to Ralphie and Martin?" She sat on the edge of the bed and hung her head. Tiredly, I gave her a run-down on my evening's activities after she was down for the count. At that, she dropped her head in her hands, and I could almost _see_ the guilt coming off her in waves, but she quickly tried to get back to business.

"Hennessey. What do you think he'll do? Do you think he'll try something, or keep running?"

I gave an empty laugh. "Hennessey knows I'm after him now. He's suspected it, but he's finally got his proof. He'll try something, all right. But when and where, I have no idea. He might lie low for a bit, or he might come after me straightaway. I don't know, but it's not over."

"It's my fault Hennessey got away. God, I was so stupid not to notice that something was wrong until it was too late…."

"It's not your fault, Kitten." I slid nearer and rested my hands on her shoulders in comfort.

She got out of bed (managing to _not_ bash her head this time) and turned her back to me. "Bones, I—I have to thank you. You saved my life. I passed out right after pushing that button, and he would have bled me dry. But you know the only reason I…was so forward with you was because of the chemicals they slipped me. You know that, right? Of course, I don't blame you for taking me up on it. I'm sure it meant nothing to you. I just wanted you to know it meant nothing to me as well."

Now that was too bloody much. She finally lets her hair down and lets herself have some fun, lets loose that tight hold on her emotions, and now she blames the drugs? Oh, that was bloody rich. "Turn 'round."

"Um, can you move that stone so I can get out of here and just—"

"Turn around." I said, slowly and darkly.

Slowly she faced me. I used vampire speed and shot in front of her, still nude. Her face went tomato again, but she kept her eyes upward as the expression on my face made her tremble.

"I'm really not comfortable with you being naked," she said, trying to be blase and failing.

I arched a brow. "Why should it unsettle you, pet? After all, you just said I meant nothing to you beyond mere gratitude. And you've seen a man's body before, so don't pull that blushing act with me. What could be bothering you, then? I know what's bothering _me_."

My voice changed from a smooth banter to a furious growl. "What's bothering _me_ is that you dare to stand there and tell me what I do and do not feel about last night. That kissing you and holding you meant nothing to me. Then, to top it all off, that you were only reacting to me because you were impaired! That's rich. You know what those drugs did to you in the first dose, before the second one made you comatose? They killed the bug up your arse!"

I'd had enough. I really couldn't stand to look at her any more; I was too hurt by her accusation and by her blaming the passion that had occurred between us on the drugs she'd been slipped. I yanked the stone off its setting and opened the passageway, then I pointed an emphatic finger at the exit.

"Out you go, before I lose my temper and we'll see how much you don't like to kiss me."

She left. Quickly.


	18. Ch 17 A Phone Call to Spade

_A/N: So this is all original content. It's mentioned in the books that Bones has called Spade and told him that he was in love with Cat, but since the books are from Cat's POV, we obviously don't get to hear what he has to say. This is my little invention of what went on during that call. Hope you enjoy!_

I didn't hear from Kitten for over a week. She didn't come to the cave, she didn't go to the club we met at, she didn't go to Bite, and she didn't ring my cell. And although I knew her home number, I knew her well enough by now to know that ringing her there would _not_ be a good idea. Kitten needed her space to work out her feelings over what had _really_ happened between us, and I was determined to give it to her.

In the meanwhile, though, I was going insane.

In an effort to both have something positive to do and to try and have an outlet to talk about my feelings for Kitten, I rang Charles. Charles was one of the three mates I made when I was a prisoner in New South Wales, and over the centuries he'd become my best mate. Although he'd been a member of the aristocracy, a baron in fact, he didn't like to be reminded of it. He preferred to go by Spade, just as I preferred to go by Bones, because both of those human lads were well dead. However, we were each one of the few people who still referred to each other by our true names.

"Charles?"

"Ah, hallo, Crispin, didn't recognize this number."

"Yes, well, I had to change it after a particularly bad job I had not too long ago."

"But you're well, I take it?"

"Actually no, Charles, I'm not, but not in the sense you're thinking. Charles, mate, I think I'm in love."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

"Hallo? Charles, you still there?"

"Yes, sorry about that. We must have a bad connection though, because I thought you said you were in love."

"I am, Charles, and at the moment miserable about it."

"Ahh... er, well, why don't you start by telling me about this woman?"

"Her name is Cat, though I call her Kitten. She's still almost just a girl, very young, Charles, just over 22. She's the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen - got lovely long red hair, the most beautiful grey eyes - I've never seen the like - and she's completely unique. She's... well, I know you probably won't believe this mate, I hardly did myself at first, but she's a half breed. Some newly turned vamp pulled a one-nighter with her mum and then there she was."

"A half breed? Crispin, are you feeling alright? Should I fly over to the States, check on you? Ian's in New York, I could send him-"

I started laughing. "Like I said, mate, I didn't think you'd believe me. But listen to this - when she gets upset - and she has a _very_ red headed temper - her eyes go green."

Another long silence filled the line. Then finally, "Blimey, Crispin."

I laughed again. "You haven't heard the half of it, Charles. She might be half vampire, but _she hates vampires_. Her mum has spun her up with tales of how evil we are, and she's been killing vamps since she was sixteen. That's how we met, actually. She tried to kill me. She's actually quite old for her years, has this idea that she has to kill all the vampires she meets to make up for what happened to her mum."

"Crispin, I know you say you love her, but-"

"But nothing, Charles. I'm going to change her mind. Then I'm going to marry her. I got her to agree to work with me on killing vamps - I'd train her to fight, and she'd lure them in then I'd take them out. You'd want to see her fight, Charles. It's beautiful, it a way. She's incredibly lethal. But she's so much more than that - she's witty, got a great sense of humor - as long as it's not directed at herself - and she's braver than anyone I've ever known. She'd have to be, to agree to work with me. We've sparred a few times, and I tell you, mate, there've been a few times she's almost gotten the better of me. She's truly unique."

"Now I _know_ we must have a bad connection, because I thought I just heard you say you were going to _marry_ her? The Crispin I've known for centuries? The Crispin who's notorious for his way with women, becoming a one woman man? To a girl barely out of her teens?"

"You heard me correctly, Charles. I don't want anyone else. I haven't even looked at another woman since I've met her. And I get insanely jealous, watching her with other men, even though that's the part she's supposed to play. I've never been jealous before, Charles. What does that tell you?"

"Crikey, Crispin. It sounds like you've finally met your match."

"I have, Charles, I have. And I'm going to have Enrique start working on a ring with the red diamond, fashion her an engagement ring so that when I do change her mind - and I'm determined to do it - I'll be prepared."

"THE red diamond?"

"THE red diamond. She deserves no less."

"Well, best of luck to you, mate. Sounds like you're going to need it; you've got your work cut out for you. But then again, I've never seen a woman who was immune to your charms yet."

"Give me time, Charles, give me time and I'll change her mind."

"Let me know how it works out for you, mate."

"Will do, Charles."

I hung up and felt better for having said aloud what had been weighing on me since the night I met Kitten. Now I just had to call Enrique and get him started on the ring.

And oh yes, wait for Kitten to come 'round.

I started climbing the walls again.


	19. Chapter 18

_A/N: this one's a short one, but this seemed like a good little action sequence. Don't worry, the next sequence will be up soon!_

It was a full week before I heard from Kitten again. We'd been out dancing on Saturday, woken up and had our unpleasant scene on Sunday, and I was convinced with each passing day that I was losing my mind, that perhaps I had made her up as a figment of my imagination as a way to fulfill some sort of unknown need to find someone and settle down. She was supposed to show up on Wednesday, and although I didn't leave the cave even once in case I might miss her, it was in vain - she didn't show up.

I was really starting to worry that either I'd truly gone 'round the bend or that she'd made up her mind to never see me again when she finally called on Friday. However, it wasn't a "Bones, I miss you, I love you, I can't live without you" call, it was a "Bones, help me, I just murdered someone" call.

Briefly, very, very briefly, I thought of not helping her out and just hanging up. But I heard the panic in her voice, knew she was very close to losing control since she'd just killed her first human, and the side of me that loved her (and was smugly proud that it was _me_ she called in an emergency) took over and simply asked for the address and told her not to touch anything.

I raced to get to her and made it there in about ten minutes. When I got there, Kitten was sitting by a phone on a wicker nightstand, shaking and barely breathing. She'd certainly taken my instructions not to touch anything to heart, since she seemed incapable of moving.

I knelt over her. "What have you touched?"

She seemed to be having a hard time processing even the simplest of thoughts - in shock, she was. "Um…the phone…maybe the edge of the dresser or her nightstand…that's it. I'd just gotten here when she started acting nuts and saying these awful things…."

I gently took the phone from her; she'd been holding it since calling me. "It's not safe here. One of them could return at any moment."

"One of whom? She doesn't have any roommates," she protested, her shock starting to lift as she watched me unhook the phone from the wall and put it in a large garbage bag.

"This place stinks like vampires," I said succinctly. "We have to tidy up and leave."

She finally rose to her feet. "Vampires! But she didn't…she wasn't—"

"What did she say about Hennessey?" I interrupted.

She looked lost as she answered, "Hennessey? Hennessey? He has nothing to do with this!"

"Like hell he doesn't," I growled as I stripped Stephanie's comforter from her bed and rolled her in it like a burrito. "He's one of the people I smell. Him, or someone who's had contact with him. His scent's here."

I finished rolling up Stephanie and then began filling that garbage bag with her stuff. Schoolbooks. Folders, papers. I quickly sifted through her drawers and added other various items. Kitten wasn't any help; she just stood there, still making sure she didn't leave fingerprints on anything.

I left to check the living room and returned with the bag even bulkier.

"Take this, luv."

I handed the bag to her, and she had to hug it to make sure it wouldn't rip. Then I took one of Stephanie's shirts and began briskly rubbing down all the furniture and doorknobs. After I was sure I had erased all evidence that Kitten had ever been there, I threw the lump of blankets that was Stephanie over my shoulder.

"Nice and quick to your truck, Kitten. Don't look around, just march right to it and get in the passenger seat. I'll be right behind you." _I'm always right behind you, Kitten, if you'd just see..._


	20. Chapter 19

_A/N: There's a hell of a lot of dialogue in this one, and I tried my best to re-work it (and I know some of it is simply re-worded, but I did that to shorten things a bit), but a lot of it had to remain canon, so that the story follows the correct lines. My apologies if it's TOO canon for you. I'll give you a night with Bones as a way to make nice. :K_

I stopped once on the way to the cave, to call Ted on my mobile. Then I pulled Kitten's truck over on the side of the road at the darkest part. In just a few minutes, Ted's car pulled up behind us.

"Hiya, buddy!" Ted called out.

"Prompt as ever, mate," I greeted him, getting out. I went 'round to the trailer bed and lifted it off Stephanie's body. I'd lain it over her to keep anything - her, an edge of the blanket, both, anything - from blowing off. Kitten stayed in the truck, still in a bit of shock and not being very talkative.

Whatcha got there?" Ted asked, waving at Kitten over my shoulder.

"Dinner for whichever ghoul you feel like rewarding, but make sure they clean their plate. I don't want any part of her resurfacing," I answered.

That must've been a bit much for Kitten - I could hear her stomach heave. She'd disposed of bodies before, yes, but she'd always buried them. She'd never given one over to be eaten by a ghoul.

Ted didn't share any of Kitten's qualms. He simply nodded and asked, "Anything I should warn them about?"

"Yeah." I handed over the Stephanie burrito and Ted plopped her in his trunk. "Tell them not to chip a tooth on the bullet."

That was officially too much for Kitten. She opened the truck door just in time, the evening's events heaving out of her stomach and onto the ground.

"She all right?" I heard Ted ask as she coughed and tried to take deep breaths to calm herself.

I sighed. "She will be. Have to be off, mate. Thanks."

"Sure thing, bud. Anytime."

She closed her door just as I climbed back in. I reached inside my jacket for my flask. "Whiskey. Not your favorite, but it's all I've got."

She took it and gulped until there was no more.

"Better?"

Her voice was scratchy when she answered. "Yeah."

The alcohol seemed to have served to wear off her shock and replace it with a lot of questions.

"No more cryptic shit, Bones. Who is Hennessey, and what's he got to do with a gun-toting psychotic from my physics class?"

I glanced at her as I started driving. "Physics? You met her at college?"

"I think you should answer my question first, since I'm the one who was nearly shot," she snapped.

"Kitten, I _will_ answer you, but please. Tell me how you met and what happened tonight."

Her face tightened, and she gave me a rundown of her week with Stephanie, ending with "... the bitch was casing me!" she suddenly burst. "She told me tonight she was looking for someone disposable, and I practically slapped a big red bow on my ass!" _Thank God Kitten had accidentally killed her; I don't know if I could handle it if she had gotten killed or pulled into Hennessey's ring..._

"What about tonight?" I probed.

"Oh, she did one better than dig into my background." She outlined the invitation and the whole clothes charade briefly, finishing with, "And then she pulled a gun on me." _Bloody slag, a simple shooting was too quick a death for her..._

"Did she mention anyone's name at all?"

She seemed to be replaying the conversation in her mind. "No. She said something about paying her rent and me being what her landlord liked, then she said college girls were all stupid and she should tape-record herself…but no names."

I didn't say anything. Kitten waited, tapping her finger, then asked, "How is this related to Hennessey? You said you smelled him and other vampires there. Do you think somehow he found out who I was from the other night? That he wanted to finish what he'd started?"

"No." I replied instantly. I explained Hennessey's style - if he knew who Kitten was, he'd have come at her with force straightaway, not go through the farce of the fake friendship. I explained that's why I had wiped down everything in her apartment. "I wanted no trace of you for him to follow."

"If not because of last weekend, then why would Stephanie be involved with him and try to kidnap me? It doesn't make any sense!"

I gave her a quick glance as we reached the cave. "Let's sort this out inside. Gives me a chance to go through her things while we talk."

She and I picked our way through the narrow entrance and back to where I'd made my living quarters in the high-domed part of the cave. I emptied the bag's contents and Kitten sat on the couch in front of me, watching as I opened Stephanie's laptop first.

"Have you ever heard of the Bennington Triangle?" I asked, powering up the computer.

She frowned. "No. I've heard of the Bermuda one."

I quickly took a look through the slag's computer - idiot didn't even password her files, but that worked for us. I quickly found what I was looking for. "Look, there you are, Kitten. Under 'Potentials.' You should be flattered, you were first on her list."

She leaned over my shoulder and read aloud: "Cathy—redhead—twenty-two," then saw the other names and descriptions below her.

"Are you kidding me? Who are those other girls? Potential what?"

I did a bit more searching on her computer, then leaned back with a smug smile. "Well, what have we here? Charlie, Club Flame on Forty-second Street. Sounds like a contact." And I'd be willing to bet the idiot was thick enough to not write in code, but to write actual names and places.

"Bones!"

Her voice was sharp and I finally set the laptop aside to answer her. "The Bennington Triangle refers to an area in Maine where several people disappeared back in the fifties. To this day, no trace of them has been found. Similar thing took place in Mexico several years back. A friend of mine's daughter disappeared. Her remains were found a few months afterward in the desert. They only found pieces of her; she had to be identified by dental records. When she was autopsied, turned out she'd been alive for months before she was murdered, and when I dug a little further, it also turned out to not be that uncommon."

"What do you mean?"

I leaned back, tired suddenly. "Hundreds of women were murdered or went missing in Mexican border towns around that time. There's still not a clue of who did it. Then, several years ago, a number of young girls started to go missing in and around the Great Lakes area. More recently, it centered in Ohio. Most of them were presumed to be runaways, prostitutes, addicts, or average, little-known girls who had vanished with no signs of foul play. Since most of them were in high-risk categories, there wasn't much of a media fuss. I think Hennessey's involved; it's why I came here. He was near all three places when the disappearances started."

"You think Hennessey did all that? He couldn't eat that much if he wanted to! What is he, some kind of…undead Ted Bundy?"

"Oh, I think he might be a ringleader, no doubt about that, but he's not a traditional serial killer," I summed up crisply. "From the bits and pieces I've gathered over the years, I don't think he's keeping these people to himself—I think he's made an industry out of them." _And he very nearly got my Kitten into it... I'd have chased him to the ends of the Earth if that happened, and done anything to get her out; he's lucky Kitten killed Stephanie, that saved him from the wrath of hell I would've given him..._

"You think he's running a takeout service," she breathed as it all clicked in her mind. "Turning those people into Meals on Wheels! My God, Bones, how could he get away with it?"

"Hennessey was sloppy in Maine and Mexico, but he's gotten smarter. Now he chooses women society doesn't really care about, and if they don't fall into that category, then he sends vampires to prevent them from being reported missing. Those girls Winston told you about? He wasn't wrong, luv, they are all dead. I wanted confirmation that there were more girls missing than had been reported, that's why I sent you to him. A ghost knows who's died, even if those girls' families don't. I went to see them, and they'd all been bitten into believing their daughters were off pursuing an acting career, like you'd been told, or backpacking across Europe, moving in with an old boyfriend, whatever. Only a vampire could have enough mind control to program their parents into not questioning their absence. Hennessey's had his people rounding up even more girls for him lately. At colleges, on street corners, in bars, clubs, and back alleys. You asked how could he get away with it? Think about it, luv. People disappear all the time. The police have enough crimes involving the rich, famous, and powerful to make it easy for them to put the disappearance of some derelicts on their back burner, and that's just the ones they know about. As far as the undead world goes, Hennessey's covered his tracks very well. There's only suspicion, but no proof." _And now he knows, and he knows I have a lovely red-headed accomplice, which means I have to be extra vigilant in trying to keep us safe..._

"How long have you suspected this? You told me before you'd been chasing Hennessey eleven years. You've known what he's been doing that whole time?"

"No. It's only been the past two years that I've gotten specific information. I didn't know who or what I was chasing at first. Took me a few dozen blokes to get an idea of what was going on. A few more dozen to get a name of who might be running it. As I said, he'd covered his tracks. Then I hunted down those under his line who had prices on their heads - Sergio, for example. I've been picking apart his people for years, but only doing it to those who had bounties on them. That way, Hennessey didn't know I was on to him. He just thought it was business. Now he knows I'm out to get him, and why. And so does whoever else is involved, because he can't be doing this alone."

She thought about that for a minute. "So, even if you take Hennessey out, it still might not end. His partners could start right up where he left off. You don't have any idea who they could be?"

"I've come very close a few times to finding out, but...things happened." _Like you, my lovely..._

"Like what?"

"Like you - if I didn't know better, I'd swear you were one of Hennessey's. You have an incredibly bad habit of killing people before I can get any information out of them. Remember Devon, that bloke you staked the night we met? I'd been tracking him for six months - he was Hennessey's accountant, knew everything about him, but you plugged silver through his heart before I could say Bob's your uncle. I thought Hennessey knew I was getting close and sent you to silence him. Then you went after me the very next night. Why do you think I kept asking you who you worked for? And tonight—"

"I didn't mean to kill her!" she cried, clearly lashed with guilt.

I got up and went behind one of the cave's walls.

"Believe me, luv, I know that. You wouldn't kill a human unless it was by accident or they were wearing a Vampire Henchman badge and fake fangs. You didn't know Stephanie had anything to do with vampires - I swear your nose is just for decoration, you have _no_ heightened sense of smell - and from the scene, it looked like you were wrestling for the gun when it went off. She probably had a good grip on it, too - she smelled like she'd been hyped up on vampire blood. Would have made her quite a bit physically stronger and she'd need that, for what her job was." I shuddered as I thought about how close Kitten had come to death, and was thankful that her strength as a half-breed (and hopefully some of my training) kept her safe.

"Why haven't you told me about all of this before? You trained me to fight, and then you kept me out of the real battle."

I stayed behind the wall while I answered. "I didn't want you involved. Blimey, I'd just as soon you not go after vampires to begin with, but that's what you want to do, so I trained you to be better at it. Not like you'd listen to me if I told you to stay home, is it? Still, Hennessey and his blokes are different. Your part with them was supposed to end after Sergio, but tonight ruined that. You should be patting yourself on the back for killing her. Those other 'potentials' certainly would, if they knew what she'd had in store for them."

"Was safety your only reason for keeping this from me, or is there more I don't know about?" _Oh, there's more you don't know about, but it isn't time to tell you yet..._

I poured water into a bowl. "No, there's another reason I kept it from you - I didn't want to give you another reason to hate vampires. You tend to judge people for what they are, rather than what they do, if they don't have a pulse."

She was silent for a moment. Then she said, "You should know something, Bones. I lied to you when we made our deal. I was going to kill you the first chance I got."

I gave a dry chuckle. "I already knew that, luv."

"About Hennessey…I want to help, I have to help. My God, I was almost one of those girls who never would have been heard from again! I know it's dangerous, but if you find out where this Club Flame is, if you get a lead, I want to be there. Hennessey has to be stopped."

I didn't answer her.

"I mean it," she went on. You're not talking me out of this!"

"I can see that. Here." I returned with a bowl of water and a cloth, setting it near her and then handing her one of my shirts. "You've got blood on the front of you. If you go home like that, you'll scare your mum into thinking you've been hurt."

She looked down at the large red smear of Stephanie's blood that stained her shirt. Clearly not thinking anything of my seeing her, she stripped off her shirt and started to scrub.

It was only after she cleaned the last of the blood from herself that she felt me stare.


	21. Chapter 20

_A/N: So this is the one everybody's been waiting for! This has been incredibly fun to crawl into Bones' head and write..._

When she looked up, I know my eyes were swimming with green. She slid back from me on the couch. "Hey. Dinner's _not_ served. Don't go all glowy at the blood."

"Do you think blood has anything to do with the way I'm looking at you now?" I could barely speak, my voice was so choked with desire.

I could hear her heartbeat speed up. "Green eyes, fangs peeking out…pretty incriminating, I'd say."

"Indeed?" I moved the bowl away and sat down. "It seems I've neglected to inform you of what else draws such a reaction, but I'll give you a hint—it isn't blood."

She took a deep breath. "Considering last weekend, I don't have anything you haven't seen before, and I doubt you're overcome with desire by seeing me in my bra."

"Kitten, look at me," I said in an empty tone.

She blinked. "I am."

"No, you're not." I slid closer, my eyes pure green now. "You stare straight through me as if I'm not even there. You look at me…and you don't see a man. You see a vampire, and therefore accord me less substance. One of the few exceptions was last weekend. I held you and kissed you, watched _your_ eyes light up with desire, and knew for once you were truly seeing me for all I was. Not just a non-beating heart with a shell around it. I dare you to look at me that way again, now, with no excuse of chemicals to fall back on. I want you." I gave a rueful smile. "I've wanted you from the moment we met, and if you think sitting next to me in your bra doesn't overwhelm me with desire, you're very wrong. I just don't force myself where I'm not invited_." Come on, Kitten, __**see**__ me..._

For a few moments, she was speechless. Then she simply stared at me, as if seeing me for the first time. I held perfectly still, afraid if I made any movement, she might startle and bolt like a wild horse.

"Kiss me."

_Oh, thank the heavens._ I leaned over and softly, gently, closed my lips over hers. I gave her ample opportunity to change her mind and push me away (_please God, no_), but she didn't. She slid closer to me and closed her arms around my neck.

I ran my tongue along her lips until she caught on and opened her mouth. I touched my tongue with hers for a moment before pulling back. I gave her another flickering touch and back again, and again. I kept reminding myself that this girl had almost zero experience with men, so I was as gentle as I could be, coaxing her, persuading her, but letting her make the decisions. Finally she traced her tongue into my mouth, and I rubbed it gently with mine before sucking on it sensually.

She moaned, and the sound made my fangs run out. I worried briefly that this might scare her off, but strangely, it didn't. This emboldened me, and I kissed her with the same passion as last weekend. She took one hand from my neck and brought it to my shirt, and one by one, undid the buttons.

When it hung open, she ran her palm across my bare skin and fuck me, the feeling of her soft hands stroking my skin was incredible. I wanted more, so I reached behind myself and pulled the shirt off. I kept kissing her until she was breathless. Her hands stroked my chest, tracing the muscles, then moved across my back, feeling the ridges. I groaned as she touched me, and slid closer until our bodies were pressed together.

I trailed my lips down to her neck, straight to her pulse. I pulled it into my mouth, feeling the artery jump against my lips and tongue as I manipulated it. I knew she realized she was in the most dangerous position to be in with a vampire, but from the smell, it aroused her incredibly. The waves of heat sweeping through her felt like lava against my skin, and it was incredible. I couldn't take much more of this - it was all too much.

I trailed my lips up to her ear, gently tracing the shell before whispering to her, "I want you so much. Tell me you want me. Say yes."

She paused for a moment, seemingly at war with herself. I knew she wanted me, I could smell it, but I had a fair idea why she hesitated. Turns out, I was right. "Bones…I didn't like it before. I think… something's wrong with me."

"Nothing's wrong with you, and if you change your mind or say stop, no matter when, I'll stop. You can trust me, Kitten. Say yes. Say yes .._._"_ Please please please say yes_...

I could hardly stand to wait for her answer, so I kissed her passionately again, hoping against hope that might persuade her. My arm supported her, but she tore away long enough to speak one word.

"Yes..."

It was barely out of her mouth before I kissed her again, picking her up and carrying her into the bedroom. The mattress gave under our weight as I stretched her out on it. I unclipped her bra and pulled it off while my palms cupped her breasts, and my God, they were as beautiful as I'd imagined. I couldn't stand waiting any more; I'd dreamed of this for so long. I lowered my mouth to one nipple and sucked strongly.

I smelled a wave of pure desire coming from her. I gently squeezed her other breast, rolling and worrying the nipple between my fingers. She arched her back and clasped my head to her chest - _Christ, yes_.

I unzipped her jeans, pulling them off and only her simple cotton panties remained to clothe her. Again, the simplicity of the cotton seemed to me so incredibly sexy. I ran my hand against them, pressing inward. I could feel how damp they were already and how the action increased the heat coming from her.

But still, I had to see more. I had to see everything I'd imagined. So far it had been better than I'd ever dreamed, and I wasn't disappointed. I groaned when I pulled her panties off, leaving her finally, _finally_, bare in front of me.

"Oh, Kitten, you're so beautiful. Exquisite," I breathed, and then kissed thoroughly. I trailed my mouth to her breasts again, drawing on each nipple while I reached for her center. I caressed her gently but knowingly, and she bit her lip in an effort to stifle her cries. When my thumb circled her nub and I rubbed a long finger inside her, she began trembling with need.

I stopped, and she gave a harsh cry of protest. I pulled my hand away, and I dragged my mouth from her breasts down her stomach. It wasn't until I was past my navel that she realized my intention.

"Bones, wait!" she gasped.

_Fuck, please don't say stop, please don't say stop..._ I paused at once, mouth still caressing her belly. "Stop?"

She blushed - God that was sexy - and tried to find the words to answer. "Er, not stop all of it, just…um, I don't think that's appropriate—"

Not _appropriate_? I snorted. "I _do_ think," I muttered, and lowered my mouth.

I gave a long, slow lick - and God, did she taste fantastic - that probed her, leaving boiling hot flesh in its wake. Another wet stroke and another, deeper this time, and I could feel her modesty being washed away in waves of pure heat. I shifted until her legs straddled my shoulders, never stopping my exploration of the soft flesh in front of me.

She began to moan, louder and louder. I loved the fact that I was the one bringing her such pleasure. She began to writhe underneath me as I explored every inch of her most private place. Her hips arched with each stroke of my tongue. I don't think Kitten had ever experienced an orgasm before, but she was coming closer and closer to it as I worked her with my tongue and fingers. I increased the pressure and the intensity, and when I finally settled my mouth over her clitoris and sucked, she screamed.

I looked up and watched her fall apart, writhing in ecstasy, shaking with pleasure. She gasped and panted until finally her breathing calmed. I watched as pleasure moved through her, spilling out to her extremities, loosening her limbs and making her eyes open in amazement.

I slid up her stomach and framed her face in my hands. "You have never looked more beautiful." Her body still shook with aftershocks, but she tensed as I moved between her legs.

"Don't be afraid," I whispered, and kissed her.

For a split second she seemed to not know what to do, considering where my mouth had just been, but then she seemed to like the new flavor on my mouth. My tongue twined with hers as my cock slid along her wet crease. She shuddered in fear, but I only swept the outside before pulling away and doing it again, relaxing her and lubricating myself at the same time. I kept doing it and I matched my tongue with my movements, bringing back her previous heat.

"You tell me when," I whispered, long moments later. "Or not at all. We don't have to go further yet. I'll spend the rest of the night tasting you, Kitten, I loved that. Let me show you how much."

I started dragging my mouth purposefully lower, but she held me to keep me in place. "Tell me," I moaned as a twist of my hips had her crying out.

I could hear her heart pounding nervously, but she answered. "Now."

I gave her another dizzying kiss and then raised up on my arms. I slowly began to thrust forward - oh fuck me, she was tight - and she trembled and gasped as I entered her, an inch at a time. I pulled back and moved forward, an inch further each time, and she buried her face in my neck and trembled. I moved deeper, and a feeling of complete _rightness_ came over me. Like what I had been missing all my life was right here. Like every woman before her was nothing, simply a way to learn to bring the most pleasure to _this_ woman, and I wanted to be nowhere but inside her. When I was fully sheathed I stopped to savor the moment, of finally being one with Kitten, closing my eyes briefly before looking down at her.

"All right, luv?" Our eyes met, and it was incredibly intimate. Seemingly unable to speak, she simply nodded.

I began to move in her, pulling back just a little and then thrusting forward. The unexpected pleasure made her breath catch. I repeated the motion, but deeper this time. Kitten was still gasping as I pulled myself nearly all the way out and back in with a single arch of my hips that tore a whimper out of her throat. Sweat broke out on her body, and I reached down and cupped her hips. I pulled her closer, rubbing against her to coincide with my movements. She caught on to the rhythm, and the increased contact made her more aroused and even tighter.

"More…"

_Gladly, my love..._ I chuckled, almost growling, and increased my pace.

I felt her hands move down and grip my hips. Fingers dug into me and I reveled in it. She couldn't seem to touch enough of me or get close enough to me, and I loved it. She kissed me, piercing her lower lip on my fangs and I groaned when I sucked the blood off.

"So sharp and sweet," I muttered, my voice thick with desire. _Oh, Kitten, so good, so good..._

"No more…of that," she said breathlessly.

I licked my lips, making sure not to miss one drop. "It's enough. Now you're inside me also." And I held her even closer.

She gasped as my movements grew more intense. Earlier hesitation forgotten, she thrashed underneath me, fingernails raking my back and I loved it. Her teeth sank into my shoulder to stifle a scream and she bit me until she broke the skin. _Oh God, nothing's ever felt so good... bite me again, Kitten, again and again and again..._

I yanked her head back, raking her mouth with my tongue. "Harder?"

"God, yes," she moaned.

I released my control with what could almost be called glee. My hips ground into hers with a tempered savageness, and the screams she'd held back spilled forth in rhythmic shouts that spurred me on. When she couldn't stand it any harder, I moved faster, thrusting in a manner that would have been merciless had she clearly not reveled in it.

I could feel she was close. She'd let go of all her misconceptions, her ideas of what was and was not proper, and had become a panting, twisting creature beneath me. I could feel her walls fluttering, and I wanted to watch her as she came. I grasped her head and stared into her eyes. A cry wrenched out of her mouth when the flood of orgasm swept over her. It was stronger than the first one, longer, and it was a beautiful thing to see. Not to mention it felt amazing on my cock.

I groaned, face twisting in ecstasy as I drove into her even more rapidly with my eyes locked onto hers. We couldn't look away from each other, and I know she watched as my control evaporated. I clutched her as passion swept over me, kissing her almost bruisingly and shuddering for several moments.

When she broke away to breathe, I shifted until we lay side by side. My arms coiled around her, keeping our bodies touching. There didn't seem to be enough oxygen in her lungs and I breathed once or twice. I reached out and pushed the damp hair from her face, smiling before I kissed her forehead. _Beautiful, so beautiful..._

"And to think you actually believed something was wrong with you."

"Something _is_ wrong with me, I can't move."

I grinned and leaned over to lick the nipple closest to me, drawing lightly on it. The aureola was oversensitive from my previous attentions, and I drew on it increasingly until it reached the very crest of sensitivity.

Kitten glanced down. "Am I bleeding?" she asked in surprise.

I didn't bother to look. "No, luv. That's from me."

"What is—? Oh. Let me up, I'll wash off."

"I don't mind." I breathed the words into her skin. "It's mine, after all. I'll clean you up."

"Aren't you going to roll over and go to sleep?"

My hand was moving lower down her body and I ceased my ministrations to laugh, raising my head from her breasts. "Kitten"—I grinned—"I am far from sleepy. You have no idea how many times I've fantasized about you like this. During our training, our fights, the nights I've seen you dressed up and pawed at by other men…"

I stopped speaking to kiss her. "And all the while seeing you look at me with fear whenever I touched you. No, I am not sleepy. Not until I've tasted every inch of your skin and made you scream over and over again."

I bent my head to her nipples once more, sucking them and worrying them with my teeth, rubbing the aureolas with my fangs.

"One day I'm going to find that old bloke of yours and kill him," I muttered, so low she could barely hear me.

"What?"

I distracted her with a strong tug from my mouth, and then another and another, until her concerns disappeared under the sensual assault on her nipples. After a while I looked at them and smiled in satisfaction.

"Dark red, both of them. Just like I promised you they'd get. See? I am a man of my word."

Confusion clouded her face for a moment, then she remembered our day of dirty talk and blushed scarlet. "You didn't actually mean all of those things, did you?"

I laughed again, low and throaty. I arched a brow in sinful promise, my eyes bled back to pure green, and my mouth slid farther down her stomach.

"Oh, Kitten, I meant every word."


	22. Chapter 21

_A/N: Ask and ye shall receive. Several reviews have asked for more original Bones thoughts, so this is kind of a hybrid chapter. It's a lot of original content, mixed with a little book snippet. It's shorter, but in the book not much time elapses between Cat leaving the cave and Bones showing up at her house. So he doesn't have much time to ruminate, but hopefully what I've written has done that time justice._

We made love - and for me, at least, it was making love, not just sex, for the first time in my existence - until Kitten was completely exhausted. I held her in my arms for quite some time, just reveling in the fact that I was finally able to do so, while she snored and burrowed into the duvet. When I was sure she was deeply asleep and my moving about wouldn't wake her, I slipped out of bed and went to my computer.

I did a little searching - I love Google - and came up with an address for Club Flame in Charlotte, North Carolina. I really, _really_ didn't want to bring Kitten into this any further than she already was, but she was adamant about being involved, so I purchased two plane tickets for us to leave the next day. Now all we had to do was find this Charlie.

That bit of business being done, I crept back to bed and slid in next to Kitten. I pulled her into my arms and, though I never sleep more than a few hours at a time, those hours with her were some of the best of my existence. Finally, _finally_, I'd broken down her walls and gotten her to see me as a man and not just a set of fangs. I slept, for the first time in a long time, in complete peace.

The next morning, I woke before her and wanted to start what I thought was the beginning of our new relationship - Christ, _me_ in a relationship, someone stop the presses - right, so I began to leave feather light kisses all over her back and shoulders as I spooned up behind her. I was more than willing to pick up where we left off the night before when she woke. But rather than relax into my arms like I wanted her to, I felt her whole body freeze.

_Oh Christ, no. Please, no._

"Morning-after regrets?" I stopped kissing her with a groan. "I feared you might wake up and flog yourself over this."

As I spoke, she leapt from the bed and began looking frantically for her clothes. Not even bothering with knickers or a bra, she just threw on her jeans and one of my shirts. Then she began looking for her keys in a panic.

_Fuck. Fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck_. "You can't just storm out and pretend this never happened," I said as I sat up.

"Not now," she said in a tizzy, refusing to look at me. Finding her keys, she grabbed them and ran out of the bedroom as if the hounds of hell were chasing her.

"Kitten…" I tried.

She didn't stop.

I sat there, wondering how my dream evening had turned into the morning from hell in just a few short moments. I'd made many a morning getaway myself in my time, and now that the tables were turned on me, I realized how much it hurt. It made me want to find all the women I'd done that to and apologize.

The bed, which had always seemed perfectly adequate before when it was just me sleeping in it, suddenly seemed enormous now that I was in it alone again. And the cave, with its tiny nooks and crannies, low ceilings and narrow passageways, seemed to be closing in on me. I had to be out of there, and it had to be now.

Much like Kitten had done just minutes before, I jumped out of the bed that had just a few short hours ago brought me so much pleasure. I grabbed the first pair of trousers and shirt I found, and fairly ran out of the cave and shot straight up into the air.

As I did so often when I needed to think, I flew. Flying gave me a sense of peace and helped clear my mind. It was something I always did alone, and today I most definitely needed to be alone to plan my next step in the Win Kitten Over plan. Because while I might have suffered a setback this morning, I was in no way admitting defeat.

My mind mulled over several different plans while my body literally flew on autopilot. I wasn't aware of where I was, where I was going, or where I had been, until suddenly I looked down and realized that without even consciously thinking about it, I had flown to Kitten's farmhouse.

I circled above, seeing the acres of cherry trees that she'd told me she ran to when she needed to escape. Was she there now? Thinking over what had happened between us, and whether she wanted it to continue? Her truck was parked in front of the converted barn of a house, so I at least knew that, even though she left in a panic, she'd made it home safely. That was one worry I could check off my list.

Still I circled, over and over, and I tried to process emotions that were foreign to me. Jealousy, that had been new. I could now add another new one to the list: hurt. I'd done my best last night to show her, through my actions, through worshipping her body, treating her gently and letting her set the pace, how I felt. And she'd rejected me. Rejection was new, too, and that one definitely stung.

But I realized something as I flew - for all her bravado, all her brash bravery, her sarcasm and her layers of protective shells, Kitten was as new at this, this relationship thing, as I was. And, she had one major obstacle to overcome that I didn't - her mum. While I had a family of sorts made up of friends, my sire, vampires and ghouls I'd created, and my grandsire, Kitten only had her grandparents and her mum. And she knew that, short of me biting her into a new way of thinking, her mum would never condone her being in a relationship with a vampire. If I ever ran across the sad excuse of a vampire that was her father, he'd be lucky if all he met was a quick death at the end of my silver knife. He'd caused more problems than he would ever know.

But, as I've said, practicality is my strong suit, and as I flew, I began to plan. And even though I hated the idea, I realized the answer was right in front of me. The one thing guaranteed to get Kitten to put aside her doubts about a relationship with me and move forward: Charlie, and Club Flame.


	23. Chapter 22

_A/N: Yay! You liked the last chapter! I'm going to try to continue on, doing the best I can, as Bones for this one, and it will also be pretty short. Hopefully funny in places, too._

Once I'd realized that the best way to get Kitten speaking to me again was to dangle Hennessey under her nose, I had to pick how best go about it.

One: I could simply go over there, snatch her up and fly her away until I got to a place where she might listen to me. Probably the quickest, but not necessarily the best way to handle Kitten. She didn't like to be told what to do (or not do), and would most likely simply ignore anything I had to say. Not to mention the flying thing would just show her yet one more difference between me and a human man.

Two: Send Ted to fetch her, saying it was an emergency. Possible, but not likely to work. Kitten knew Ted worked for me; she'd see through that ruse.

Third: Call tell her and tell her about the lead I had. Of the three, this was the most likely to work, since she was so determined to take down Hennessey, but it was also the most frightening (for me).

The simple fact of the matter was, I'd never called a girl at home before. Oh, I'd left notes, sent messengers, called their mobiles, but I'd never before gone through the "meeting the family" jitters.

So, fingers shaking slightly, I dialled the number I'd known by heart since I went through her purse the night she tried to kill me.

A gruff older chap answered the phone. Ah, this must be her gramps. "Crawfield residence."

Suddenly, my throat was dry and I had a hard time getting the words out. "May I speak to Kit - er, Catherine, please?"

"No, you may not. You were probably the reason she stayed out all night last night. _Oh, Gramps, if you only knew..._ I'll not have you leading my granddaughter any further astray than you already have." With that, he hung up.

Well, shite. I did some more quick thinking. I knew if I could just see her, she'd agree to go with me, so the first thing I did was throw her "slut clothes" as she called them, along with her makeup and hair styling accessories, into a bag. Then, I called a cab to meet me at the gas station nearest the cave.

I flew over to the station and waited anxiously for the cab. When it arrived, I was both elated and nervous. Elated because I'd be seeing my Kitten soon, and nervous that she might reject me again.

The whole cab ride to her farmhouse, I was as jittery and jumpy as a teenage boy going to pick up his date for the prom. We pulled up into the long drive and I instructed the cabby to wait - he'd either be bringing one or both of us to the airport after this.

I knew from the phone call that I wouldn't exactly be welcome into the Crawfield home with open arms, especially if her mum was home. So when her granddad answered my knock, I hit him with my gaze and immediately had him compliant. Her gran stuck her out from what looked like the kitchen and I immediately had her also believing I was a nice girl there to take Kitten to a bible retreat.

So far there was no sign of her mum, but I could hear running around upstairs, and then something fell down the stairs and landed in a heap at the bottom. The heap turned out to be Kitten, and she was hissingly furious with me as I sent her grandparents off to have some nice tea while she packed.

"What do you think you're doing here?" she hissed. "If only the movies were right and you couldn't come in unless invited!"

I laughed. "Sorry, luv. Vampires can go anywhere they please."

"Why are you here? And why did you trick my grandparents into thinking you're a girl?"

"A _nice_ girl," I smiled and corrected her. "Can't have them believing you'd taken up with a bad sort, can we?"

"You have to go. My mom will have a heart attack if she sees you."

"I am here for a reason," I said calmly. "Not that I want you to be involved any further, but you were very emphatic last night that you wished to be informed if I discovered where that club was. I have. It's in Charlotte, and I'm flying there tonight. I bought you a ticket, if you want to go also. If you don't, I'll just go into your kitchen and convince your grandparents I was never here. That way you won't have to explain my presence later to your mum. It's up to you, but you have to decide now."

I was waiting... I figured the odds were 70/30 in my favor that she'd go, but I let her have some time to decide.

Instead of answering right away, she asked, "Why didn't you call instead of just coming over?"

I arched a brow. "I did. Your grandfather hung up on me as soon as I asked for you. You really ought to get a cell phone. Or remind them that you're twenty-two years old and it _is_ appropriate for a gentleman to ring you."

"Yeah, well, they're old-fashioned, and they kind of lost it when they saw my neck—which was very inconsiderate, by the way!" she said, gesturing to the hickeys on her neck. I smiled to myself, knowing there were others in places only she and I knew of. "Leaving all those 'Been there, done that!' stamps for them to see!"

Inwardly I laughed, but I just allowed a grin to show. "In all fairness, Kitten, if I didn't heal supernaturally, I'd be covered with similar markings, and my back would be a river of scars from your nails."

She looked a bit taken aback, and like a change of subject was quickly needed. "As far as tonight, you know I'll go. I told you I want to stop Hennessey, and I meant it. You already found where the club was? That was fast."

"I knew before, in fact," I said, leaning casually against the doorframe. "I'd researched it this morning while you were sleeping. Was going to tell you about it when you woke up, but then you ran out like hell was chasing you and didn't give me a chance."

She couldn't look me in the eye - I won't lie, that hurt. "I don't want to talk about that. I'm not so shallow that I'd let my… misgivings about last night interfere with stopping a murderer, but I think it's best if we leave that alone."

A stabbing feeling erupted in my chest at her words, but I did my best to play it cool. I kept my small smile as I said, "Misgivings? Oh, Kitten. You break my heart." Little did she know that while the words themselves were said in a sarcastic way, they were true.

She looked up sharply, "Let's focus on priorities. If you want to, we'll, ah, talk about that later. After the club. Wait here while I pack."

Aha! I knew she'd go along, and that just gave me more time with her to make her see that we were meant for each other. It wasn't exactly candy and roses, but then again she wasn't that type of girl. Offer her a chance to kill a vampire? Quickest way to her heart. I held the door open for her. "It's not necessary, I brought your game clothes. After you."


	24. Chapter 23

_A/N: There's a lot of dialogue in this one, but I've added quite a bit of Bones and tried to sum up some of the longer parts (Charlie is pretty chatty). In response to the reviewer who asked if I was planning to continue to with the series (but doesn't have review reply turned on) the answer is yes, and I already have the first three chapters of Book 2 written. Anyone have any ideas as to what I should call it? My only requirement is that it have 'Grave' in the title like the books..._

Things were awkward on the flight to Charlotte. I didn't like to fly (in a plane, that is) under the best of circumstances, but sitting next to Kitten, smelling her, feeling the flesh on my arm tingle when it brushed against hers on the armrest, was torture. What was even worse torture was how she kept her eyes determinedly out the window, and every time we touched, she shrunk back as if stung. I didn't know if that was because it felt good to her (like it did to me), and she was having a hard time realizing she liked it and didn't know what to do about it, or if it was because she hated it and didn't want to be anywhere near me. I was finding that I hated this place I found myself in, feeling like an insecure, needy teenager. I'd been with hundreds of women, but this one had me wrapped around her little finger, and wasn't even sure she wanted me there. As I said, torture.

When we landed in Charlotte, I rented a car and drove us to a nearby hotel, making sure to rent a room with two beds - hoping, obviously, that we'd end up sharing one, but wanting her to feel like she had a choice. Which she did, obviously. Somehow, things had shifted and she was the one in control. Instead of me being the one who set the little trap of offering to train her, and me buying the sexy clothes and teaching her how to talk dirty, things had flipped and I was almost shifting from foot to foot and begging her to talk to me.

She didn't. She took the bag I'd packed for her, disappeared into the hotel bathroom, emerged an hour later all slutted up and staked out, and just said she was ready to go. So, again mostly in silence, we drove to Club Flame, where she parked herself at the bar and spent about two hours fending off bloke after bloke, and I sat in the back, pounding whiskey after whiskey.

Finally, and I wasn't at all sure anymore that this was a good thing, a vampire came in and sat next to Kitten, started chatting her up. From her body language, and the simple fact that she didn't send him packing like she had everyone else, this must be Charlie. The drunk bloke next to her, who'd been trying his luck with her for some time (to no avail) began to protest, and I watched as Charlie drug him out of the bar then returned alone.

They chatted a bit more, and I saw her deliberately shift on her bar stool so her dress scooted up her thighs. I watched Charlie take in the view and saw him take a deep breath, and I barely registered the whiskey glass in my hand shatter. Finally, they left, and I followed a short distance behind in the rental.

After almost an hour, he pulled up at a small apartment complex. I'd told Kitten in the past to never, ever go into a building or home, but we'd had a short conversation on the way to the bar where we'd agreed that she'd let him take her to his home. I was hoping this would lead me to the next link in the chain to Hennessey, and I had no doubt that I could handle whatever we found inside. I found it harder to get her to answer me in more than simple "yes"s and "no"s.

Charlie yanked Kitten out of the car (thereby earning an extra beating from me for hauling on her like that) and pulled her upstairs. He yanked her inside and I saw her trip, most likely so her hand was closer to her knives. I waited a short bit, then jumped up to the upper level. I could tell that whoever was in the apartment with Kitten and Charlie felt me because I heard "You expecting someone…?" just before I kicked the door in.

Kitten was in the room with Charlie and another vampire, this one nude, and she drove her knife straight into the nude one's groin. _Ouch_. Even though this was one of Hennessey's, _bugger_. I wasn't sure if he'd said or done something to her, or perhaps it was just because it was the closest place, but I made a note to myself to spend a little extra time with this one later.

Well, that was the idea, anyway. I had Charlie in my grasp, yanked onto my lap with a knife in his back, and I turned and watched as Kitten flung another knife into the other one's back, then pounced on him as he tried to get away. He tried to get her off but she hung on, twisting the knife until he collapsed under her and became really, really dead.

"Good thing I didn't need the other bloke, luv," I commented.

She shrugged. "Then you should have told me."

Charlie seemed oblivious to the knife in his back as he stared at Kitten like he'd never seen her before. "Your eyes…"

They were lit up all the way green like traffic lights, due to her fighting the nude vampire. "Lovely, aren't they?" I asked silkily. "So at odds with her beating heart. Feel free to be shocked. I know I was when I first saw them glow."

"But they're…She can't…"

"Oh, don't concern yourself with her any longer, mate. It's me you need to fret about." Charlie wiggled a bit, but I flicked the knife and stilled him.

"Kitten, someone's in the other room. They're human, but don't rush to assume they're harmless."

I watched Kitten pull out some small throwing blades and go to check it out, then suddenly I heard her, as panicked as I'd ever heard her, cry out, "We need an ambulance!"

A few moments later she returned to the living room with a girl in her arms, strips of bedclothes tied around wounds and a sheet wrapped around her body. "I have to take her to a hospital—"

"Wait, Kitten."

"But she's lost a lot of blood! And worse!"

I knew what she meant by 'and worse.' I could smell it. If I'd had any inclination to go easy on Charlie before, it evaporated in that instant, when I knew what he'd done to this innocent girl, and when I saw the look on my Kitten's face - pure panic. "You rush her to a local hospital and you may as well kill her," I told her. "Hennessey will send someone to silence her, she knows too much. I'll take care of her, but let me deal with him first."

Charlie turned to look at me. "I don't know who you are, sonny boy, but you're making a big mistake. If you get up on out of here now, you might just live long enough to regret it."

I mocked him with a laugh. "Well said, mate! Why, some of the others groveled straightaway, and you know how tedious that is. You're right, we haven't been properly introduced, even though I already know your name. I'm Bones."

Charlie tried for sleazy charm. "There's no reason to be uncivilized 'bout things. Hennessey said you've been slinking after him, but why don't you smarten up? You can't beat him, so you should join him. Hell, he'd love to have someone like you batting for his team. This is a big, sweet pie, my friend, and there ain't nobody who wouldn't like a piece of it."

I angled him around on my lap so I could see him. "Is that right? I'm not so sure Hennessey would want me. Killed an awful lot of his blokes, you see. He might be cross about that."

"Aw, hell, that's like a job interview for him! Don't you worry none about that. He'd figure if they was dumb enough to get dried by you, he don't want them in the first place." Charlie smiled.

Kitten was clearly losing patience with my _tete a tete_ with Charlie. She wasn't exactly patient at the best of times, and she was really, _really_ unschooled when it came to interrogation. I reminded myself to work on teaching her that - if she was still working with me, of course. "We don't have time for this," she snapped. "She's bleeding to death while you're making friends!"

"Just a moment, pet. Charlie and I are talking. Now, about this pie, mate. Big and sweet, you say? I'm afraid I'll need a little more incentive to let you live than just 'big and sweet.' I'm sure I can find someone who would pay a pretty penny for your corpse."

"Not as much as you can get by playing for Hennessey instead of against him." Charlie nodded at Kitten. "You see that li'l gal your wildcat is cradling? Each one of those honeys is worth 'bout sixty large, when it's all put to bed. We doll them up and have them work the breathers first. Then we auction 'em off to one of ours. Full meal, no cleanin' the dishes afterwards! And then they're a perfect plate for a hungry bone-muncher! I mean, these gals were never more useful in their _lives_—"

"You piece of shit!" she yelled, heading towards him with her stake.

"Stay where you are, and if I have to tell you to shut it one more time, I'm going to knock your bloody head off!" I hated yelling at her, especially with where things were between us right now, but I had to make Charlie think she was just my Renfield.

She froze, and I hated myself even more for the look of uncertainty that crossed her face. I'd have more explaining (or groveling, more like) to do for that later. "That's better." I turned back to Charlie. "Now, then, you were saying?"

Charlie laughed nervously. "Whew! Your kitty's high-strung, isn't she? Better watch your small and wrinklies before she wears 'em on her belt!"

I gave a laugh. "No chance of that, mate. She likes what they do to her too much to rob me of them." I watched Kitten's eyes going back and forth from me to Charlie, and I could see that fear that I thought I had finally conquered come back across her face. _Fuck._ Still, better to finish this and try to work things out with her later than have this be for naught.

"Sixty grand each, that's nice, but split up how many ways? It's not a lot of quid if you're splashing it over a big pond."

Charlie relaxed, and started explaining the inner workings of Hennessey's Meals on Wheels trade. That he was using the Internet to go global with his operation. Still, the inner structure was small, which was a positive. It meant fewer blokes for me to hunt down until his little empire crumbled.

"Indeed. You paint a tempting picture, mate. However, there are a few chaps of Hennessey's where there's no love lost between us, so tell me—who else is on this quid train? Can't sign me up if I've shagged one of their wives or shriveled their brother, right?"

There it was. The recognition hit Charlie and he lost his smile. His expression became cold and he lost his easy Southern drawl. "Fuck you."

I sat up straight, all business now. "Right. Knew you'd figure it out eventually. Well, thanks anyway, mate. You've been moderately helpful. Only twenty of you, you say? That's less than I thought, and I've a decent inkling who the rest of them might be. Kitten, I don't feel anyone else, but take a look around this building anyway. Break down the doors if you have to, but make sure no one else is here."

She gestured to the girl, who was still on the floor where she had left her. "What about her?"

"She'll hold a bit more."

"If you kill me, it won't only be Hennessey who'll come down on you. You'll wish your mother had never been born," Charlie hissed. "He's got friends, and they go higher up on the pole than you can handle."

Kitten headed out the door as I said, "As far as Hennessey and his friends go, I thought they wouldn't miss anyone stupid enough to get dried by me? Your words, mate. I suspect you're regretting them."

A few moments later, Kitten came back. "Bones?"

"Back here," I called from one of the back bedrooms.

She came into the room cautiously (good on her! She'd paid attention to my teachings!) but her eyes widened once she saw what was in the room. I had Charlie twisted into the bed frame. The metal was twisted around him to form clamps, and the knife was still in his chest, only now there was a beam holding it there.

I had some jugs near my feet. "Now, mate, I'm going to make you an offer. It only gets extended once. Tell me who these other players are, all of them, and you'll go out quick and clean. Refuse, and…" I splashed the gasoline all over Charlie. "You'll live as long as it takes for this to kill you."

"Where'd you get those?" Kitten wondered.

"Under his kitchen sink. Thought they'd have something like this on hand. You didn't think they'd just leave this place and all of its forensic evidence behind when they were through, did you?"

Charlie gave me a hateful look. "I'll tell you in hell, and that'll be soon."

I'd picked up book of matches at the hotel while I was waiting for Kitten to get ready, and now I struck one and dropped it onto the bed. Instantly, the bed was covered in flames and Charlie started to scream and thrash, but my metal straight jacket held. I spared a moment to think about the irony of meeting Charlie at Club Flame, and his going out in a bed of flames.

"Wrong answer, mate. I never bluff. Come on, Kitten. We're leaving."


	25. Chapter 24

_A/N: Very short one this time, but it's one little segment of action. And in reply to the reviewer in regards to the last chapter that they got a king sized bed and it was in the deleted scenes, I checked and there isn't one that mentions it. I think you're thinking of the scene after this next one. :)_

We stayed a bit to make sure Charlie didn't get out of his bed straight jacket, and when it was clear he was extra crispy, I doused more gasoline around the rest of the complex and set it alight.

The girl Kitten found hadn't spoken yet - her eyes were glazed over and I could tell she was under a deep thrall. To help her dangerously low heartbeat, I gave her a few drops of my blood to start healing her injuries.

Kitten led her over to the rental - if instructed, she could walk - and put her in the back seat, while I went to Charlie's car and opened the trunk. When Kitten leaned over me to see, she gasped, realizing it was the drunken idiot that had been hitting on her until Charlie took care of him the permanent way,

"Is he…?"

"Dead as Caesar," I replied. "Charlie took him 'round the back and snapped his spine. Would've felt me if he'd been paying more attention. That's where I went to hide when it looked like you'd be leaving with him."

"You didn't try to stop him?" she asked guiltily.

I stared at her, my gaze steady. "No. I didn't."

"What are you doing with him?"

I dumped him on the grass. "Leave him as he is. There's nothing more to be done. With this fire, he'll be found soon. He'll have a proper burial. That's all he's got left."

Kitten just looked so tired, with an expression on her face that was much too old to be there. I was starting to see it more and more often, and it was a large part of why I didn't want her involved in chasing Hennessey. People get killed all the time - sometimes by humans, sometimes by vampires. Sometimes they deserve it, but many times they don't, like this bloke or the girl that had been drugged and raped in the van. Life was violent in either world, vampire or human, and I could actually see her growing up, growing a little colder and tougher with each death.

But now wasn't the time to try and explain that to her. "Let's go," I said briefly.

"But what about Charlie? You're just going to leave him and Dean for the police to find, too?" she asked, climbing into the backseat and holding the girl's hand as we sped away.

"Coppers?" I snorted. "You know that when vampires died, their bodies decomposed to their true ages. That's why they look like bloomin' mummies sometimes afterwards. Just let them try to figure out why a bloke dead 'round seventy years ended up stuffed into a bed frame and torched. They'll be scratching their chins about that for days. And I'm leaving Charlie the way he is for a reason. I want Hennessey to know who did it, and he will, because when we get back to the hotel, I'm going to call around and find out if there's any money on this sod. If there is, I'll claim it, and word will get to him. He'll be nervous, wondering what Charlie told me, and with luck it'll draw him out of hiding. He'll want to shut me up for good."

It was risky, baiting Hennessey like that, and he wasn't the only one who wanted me dead the permanent way. But I'd lived a risky life, and if it meant it might draw Hennessey out after me, and I could take him on, one on one, then it was worth it in my books. As long as Kitten was left out of it.

"Where are we taking her?" Kitten inquired.

"Give me a moment." I grabbed my cell and made a call, while Kitten whispered comforting things to the girl.

"Tara, it's Bones. I'm sorry to ring you so late…. I have a favor to ask…. Thank you. I'll be there within the hour."

Our eyes met in the rearview mirror. "Tara lives in Blowing Rock, so it's not that far, and the girl will be safe with her. No one really knows Tara, so Hennessey won't think to look there. She'll be able to give her the help she needs, and not just physically. She's been through something similar."

"A vampire got her?" Bollocks, I thought I had Kitten past this belief that vampires were the source of all evil in the world! But again and again, I had to keep reminding myself that, in her very limited frame of reference, they were. I looked back to the road.

"No, luv. He was just a man."


	26. Chapter 25

_A/N: I stand corrected about the king bed comment. Evidently there's a special e-book edition with a number of deleted scenes. If anyone has it and knows how to share, or knows where I can buy it, I WANT IT! I've literally been pouting in frustration since learning about it and not being able to buy it..._

It took a bit, but we finally reached Tara's home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. When we pulled to a stop, I got out and greeted the African-American woman who was waiting on the porch with a kiss on the cheek. Tara and I went way, way back, and between us we'd saved a lot of women, her included.

I gave her a hug and a brief outline of what we knew about the girl Kitten still sat in the backseat of the rental car with. I made sure not to tell her any names, and I made sure to make her promise not to tell anyone we'd come, or tell anyone about the girl we had brought.

Finally feeling like I had all the basics covered, I turned back to the car. "Kitten? Coming?"

She helped the girl out of the backseat of the car, telling her, "We're going to meet this nice lady." She led her in the right direction towards us and made sure her sheet didn't fall.

I saw Tara's face tighten in sympathy as they drew near, and knew she had to be remembering her own abusive past. I'd saved Tara (and her daughter) from her abusive husband, and since then she'd started running a safe house for abused women. And, occasionally, she took in women I brought her that had been _very_ abused.

Once they got up to the porch, I picked up the girl and then introduced them. "Tara, this is Cat." I deliberately didn't call her Kitten because I was hurt, angry and very near to being broken hearted over the look she'd given me when we were at Charlie's. I hated to yell at her, and I knew she'd take it the wrong way, but I didn't expect her to regress almost completely back to the very start of our relationship, where she didn't even want to be touched by me.

They shook hands and Tara instructed me to put the girl in her bedroom. _Well, Kitten, think on that a bit. Yes, I know where her bedroom is..._

I could hear their conversation downstairs as easily as if I was in the room with them. I heard Tara comment on Kitten being cold, and inwardly I chuckled. Kitten was still wearing her slut dress and makeup with her fuck me boots. She must be feeling 150 shades of tramp right about now.

No matter how she might be feeling, I heard Kitten respond politely, and accept a cup of coffee. They began talking about how I knew Tara and I began my work.

I directed the girl to look at my eyes, and brought her out of the thrall Charlie or Dean had placed her under. Suddenly, she sat up and screamed, loud and piercing. Downstairs, Kitten's conversation with Tara stopped dead, and over the screams I heard Tara explaining what I was doing.

"It's alright, luv, look right here at my eyes. You're safe now, no one's going to hurt you, right? It's alright, I promise. No one will hurt you anymore. I promise. You're safe now. I promise."

The girl rolled into the fetal position and began sobbing. I rubbed her arm while she rocked back and forth, repeating over and over that she was safe, that no one would hurt her. I let her get out some of her emotional pain before I instructed her to look at me again.

"Right, look here luv. Everything's okay now. No one will hurt you, and none of the men who hurt you will ever find you again. You won't hurt yourself, will you pet? Come now, tell me... you won't hurt yourself..."

Her sobs died down a bit until finally she was able to speak. Sniffling, she said, "I won't hurt myself... I'm safe and no one will ever hurt me again."

"That's good, luv, very good. Any time you get sad or upset, you just tell yourself, 'I won't hurt myself.' You're strong, luv, strong enough to survive this. What's your name?"

"Em- Emily..."

Downstairs I heard Tara explaining to Kitten how we met, about her shelter, and about me occasionally providing some _extra_ care to women or girls who were really badly off. "I'm glad to finally do him a favor. I owe him my life, but I 'spect he told you about that."

I heard Kitten ask quizzically, "No, why would you think so?"

"'Cause he's never brought a girl here before, child. Not one that didn't need my help, leastways." _There! That ought to show you you're special to me, Kitten..._

Emily was still sobbing when I heard, "It's not like that. We, ah, kind of work together. I'm not his, er, what I mean is, he's all yours if you want him!"

_Oh, for fuck's sake..._ I gave a disgusted grunt.

Downstairs there was silence for a moment, then Tara explained, in explicit detail, about her abusive husband, how he cried and said he was sorry every time he beat her. Then when she finally got up the guts to leave him, he tried to shoot her. She told Kitten about my intervention and how I not only killed her husband, but how I helped get her and her daughter out of their shithole apartment and got them a place to stay.

I rocked a sobbing Emily while I waited for Kitten's response downstairs. _See, Kitten, sometimes vampires do _good_ things..._

"Don't wait for me to judge you. In my opinion, he had it coming," was what she replied.

"Now I'm the one helping out women who don't have nowhere else to turn. God has a sense of humor sometimes, doesn't He?"

"You could say I'm proof of that."

Tara dropped her voice, but I could still hear her. "I'm telling you this because he must have taken a shine to you. Like I said, he don't bring nobody here."

Kitten didn't respond, but suddenly Emily stopped sobbing and began remembering. "…made me call my roommates. I told them I'd met up with my old boyfriend and we were going away together, but it was a lie. I don't know why I said it, I heard the words coming out of my mouth, but I didn't want to say them…."

"It's all right, Emily." I said softly. "It wasn't your fault, they made you say that. I know this is hard, but think. Did you see anyone else aside from Charlie and Dean?"

"They kept me in that apartment the whole time, but no one else came in. I have to take a shower now. I feel so dirty."

"It's all right," I repeated. "You'll be safe here, and I'll find all of the sods who did this."

I tucked her in under Tara's comforter and started out the door when she suddenly shouted. "Wait! There was someone else. Charlie took me to him, but I don't know where we were. It seems like I blinked, and then I was in this house. I remember the bedroom was big, wood floors, and it had red and blue paisley wallpaper. There was this man wearing a mask. I never saw his face, he kept it on the whole time…." her voice wavered.

_Tossers_. "I'll find them," I promised with even more strength. "I promise."

I took a moment for myself in the upstairs hallway, to not only think over what Emily had just told me, but to try and get a handle on my emotions with Kitten before I made a scene. Finally, I headed down. "She's settled down," I said to Tara. "Her name is Emily, and she doesn't have any family to contact. She's been on her own since she was fifteen, and her mates think she's off with an ex-boyfriend. No need to tell them otherwise and put them in danger."

"I'll brew another pot of coffee and be right up," Tara said. "You staying?"

"Can't," I shook my head. "We have to catch a plane this afternoon and we're booked at a hotel. But thank you, Tara. I'm indebted to you."

"No, you ain't, honey. You keep safe, now."

"And you." I turned. "Kitten?"

"I'm ready. Thank you for the coffee, Tara, and for the company."

"Wasn't nothing, child." Tara grinned. "You be sweet to our boy here, and remember, be good only if being bad ain't more fun!"

Kitten let out a surprised laugh at this mischievous directive. "I'll try to remember that."

I didn't speak during the hour drive back to the hotel. I had so many things running through my head, like trying to figure out who Emily's masked rapist could possibly be, who were the rest of Hennessey's co-horts, etc, but I'm ashamed to say that my problems with Kitten took the front seat in my mind. She didn't speak, either, probably sensing the angry vibe leaking off of me.

When we got to the hotel parking lot, however, she couldn't take the silence anymore. "So what's next? We find out if Charlie has a bounty on him? Or see if anyone knows who the masked asshole might be? I wonder why the guy bothered to wear a mask. Kinks, do you think, or maybe he was someone she knew and he didn't want her to recognize him?"

I parked and gave her an inscrutable look. "Either one is a possibility, but regardless, I think it's best if you bow out now."

"Oh, don't give me that unsafe crap again!" she exploded. "You think I can see what was done to Emily, know it's going on with countless other girls, and just hide under my bed? Remember, I was supposed to be one of those girls! I'm not bowing out, no way!"

"Look, it's not your bravery that's in question," I replied with an edge in my voice. This conversation was quickly turning towards a direction I wasn't entirely sure I wanted it to take.

"Then what?" _Oh, here we go..._

"I saw your face. The look in your eyes when I spoke to Charlie. You wondered if I was going to join Hennessey. Deep down, you still don't trust me." I banged on the steering wheel as I spoke, and it dented. She winced.

"You were doing a great job acting, and I got confused. God, can you really blame me? Every day for the past _six years_ I've had it drummed into my head that all vampires are lying, vicious scum, and to date, by the way, you're the only one I've met who isn't!"

Oh my God, a compliment. Someone stop the presses. I snorted. "Do you realize that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me?"

"Was Tara your girlfriend?" It seemed to fly out of her mouth and she quickly drew in a horrified breath. "Never mind," she said quickly. "It doesn't matter. Look, about last night…I think we both made a mistake. Hell, you've probably realized that as well, so I'm sure you'll also agree that it should never happen again. I didn't mean to flake out earlier with Charlie, but old habits die hard. Okay, bad metaphor there, but you get my point. We'll work together, bring down Hennessey and whoever else is in his little gang, and then we'll, ah, go our separate ways. No harm, no foul."

And here it is. The moment I've both been waiting for and dreading. I stared at her for a moment while I worded my answer in my mind. "'Fraid I can't agree to that," I finally said.

"But why? I'm great as bait! All the vampires want to eat me!"

I smiled a bit at her choice of words - no one could ever accuse Kitten of being diplomatic. But it was part of what I loved about her. I reached over and stroked her face. "I can't just let us go our separate ways, Kitten, because I am in love with you. I love you." And there it was. The big confession, the only time I'd ever said it and meant it. I waited to see how she'd take it.

Her mouth fell open and she seemed speechless. Then she said. "No, you don't."

I snorted and dropped my hand. "You know, pet, that is one truly annoying habit you have, telling me what I do and do not feel. After living for over two hundred and forty-one years, I think I know my own mind."

"Are you just saying that to have sex with me?" She asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed.

Now I was _really_ annoyed. "Knew you'd think such a thing. That's why I didn't say anything before, because I never wanted you to wonder if I were merely lying to cajole you into bed. However, to be rudely blunt, I've already gotten you on your back, and it wasn't by declaring my devotion to you. I simply don't care to hide my feelings any longer."

"But you've only known me two months!"

I smiled slightly. "I began to fall in love with you when you challenged me to that stupid fight in the cave. There you were, chained up and bleeding, questioning my courage and almost daring me to kill you. Why do you think I struck that bargain with you? Truth is, luv, I did it so you'd be forced to spend time with me. I knew you'd never agree any other way. After all, you had such hang-ups about vampires. Still do, it appears."

Bones…" Her eyes were huge at the realization that I was serious. "We'd never work out together. We have to stop this now, before it goes any further!"

"I know what makes you say that. Fear. You're terrified because of how that other wanker treated you, and you're even more afraid of what your dear mum would say."

"Oh, she'd have plenty to say, you can bet on that," Kitten muttered.

"I've faced death more times than I can count, Kitten, and this instance with Hennessey is no different—do you really think the wrath of your mum is going to scare me away?"

"It would if you were smart." she again muttered.

"Then consider me the stupidest man in the world," I said, and leaned over and kissed her. I kissed her like I had at the club - a kiss filled with all the love, lust, and longing I had for her and no one else. She didn't believe in words, because she'd been lied to by a wanker and programmed by her mum, but my kisses, she believed in.

Finally she pushed me back, gasping for breath. "You'd better not be messing with me. I like you, but if you're feeding me a load of shit just to get some action, I'm going to plug a big silver stake right through your heart."

I laughed and nuzzled her neck. "I'll consider myself warned."

She shivered at my actions. "And no biting," she added.

I laughed. "On my honor. Anything else?"

"Yeah…. No one else if you're with me."

I raised up my head and my lips twitched with laughter. "That's a relief. After you told Tara she could have me as well, I didn't know if you fancied monogamy."

She blushed. "I'm serious!"

"Kitten"—I held her face—"I said I loved you. That means I don't want anyone else."

"Last but absolutely not least, I insist on going after Hennessey with you. If I trust you enough to be your…your girlfriend, you'll have to trust me enough to let me do that."

I gave a huge sigh. "I beg you to stay out of this. Hennessey's well connected and ruthless. That's a dangerous combination."

She grinned. "Half dead and totally dead. We're a dangerous combination as well."

I laughed. "I reckon you're right about that."

"Bones." She gave me an unflinching stare. "I can't walk away when I know what's happening. I'd hate myself for not doing everything I could to stop it. One way or another, I'm in this. Your only choice is whether I'm in this with you, or without you."

I gave her an unflinching stare back. I stared to see if she'd look away, but in the end it was I who looked away first. "All right, luv. You win. We'll get him together. I promise."

She looked out the window at the few rays of light piercing the sky with something akin to regret. "Sun's coming up."

"So it is."

I grabbed her up and kissed her again, my body hard against hers and my need clear.

"But it's dawn!" she gasped in astonishment.

I gave a low laugh. "Really, luv, how dead do you think I am…?"


	27. Chapter 26

_A/N: All original content here. Takes place between Bones' confession in the car and Cat's talking about the wonders of room service in the book. Also, there's a small explanation of Cat learning to do some "things" to Bones that she mentions later that she found she liked to do, but we weren't privy to, so here's my little fill-in scene. And, since I haven't gotten to read the scene with them having 1 king sized bed, I stuck with 2 doubles for continuity._

After my little statement about not being _that_ dead, I felt I had something to prove. And I did, of sorts. I had told the only woman I had ever loved that I loved her, and, while she didn't exactly say it back, she didn't completely spurn me, either. So after one more dizzying kiss in the car, I whizzed around to her door at vampire speed and, picking her up in my arms, was quickly throwing her onto one of the two double beds in the room - looked like we'd be sharing, after all.

After tossing her on the bed, I just stopped for a second and looked down at her, a bit amazed that this gorgeous creature was mine. Red curls mussed from fighting with Dean, still wearing her slinky dress with her deep cleavage from the push-up bra, and God, those boots. She bounced slightly after I tossed her, and it made everything jiggle in the best of ways.

She cocked her head to the side and looked at me. "Bones? Coming?"

I gave her a dirty leer. "Not quite yet, luv." I began to slowly pace around the bed like a predator does his prey. Fighting with Charlie had gotten my blood up, and our little stop at Tara's didn't douse it down completely. Our little scene in the car had it back up to full throttle again.

She watched me, eyes wide, as I stalked around the bed. Suddenly, before she could even blink, I had ripped her dress off and was nipping at her breasts through her bra with my incisors, leaving little holes and tiny spots of blood in my wake. True to my promise, I wasn't really biting her, just grazing her a bit, and certainly not drinking from her. Well, in one way _yet_.

I could hear her heart start hammering in her chest as I began nipping and licking all over her. This was different from the first time we were together; this was predatory. I ripped her bra open with my teeth and began sucking at her nipple, strongly. The tiny drops of blood left there just inflamed my lust. I ripped her panties off and could feel her hand move to unzip her boots but I stopped her and said thickly, "No. Leave them on."

So saying, I sank to my knees at the edge of the bed and pulled her until her center was even with my face. Oh God, the smell of her lust was driving me crazy! I grabbed her booted legs and threw them over my shoulders and began to lick her with deep, seeking strokes. I swirled my tongue in her and felt her high heels press into my back, and from that and her sounds I knew she was close.

But I wanted to be in her when she came. I grabbed her and threw her on the desk area, which was the perfect height to align our bodies, and thrust inside in one deep stroke. I raised her booted legs up against my chest, the angle taking me deeper, and she screamed and began to come on my cock. It was all I could do to hold out, but I wanted to feel that again.

So as soon as she came down from her high, I grabbed her and tossed her onto the second bed, knocking over the lamp in the process, and not giving a damn about it. She scooted back towards the headboard, but I got her by the waist and flipped her over, dragging her up on her knees. I stood at the edge of the bed and just enjoyed the view for a moment, until she flipped her hair back and looked at me over her shoulder as if to say, "_Well_?"

_Oh, game on, pet_. I held her waist in an immobilizing grip and thrust inside her. This new angle made her gasp and try to thrash against me as I pounded into her. "Put your head down, towards the bed, and raise your hips up," I instructed. She looked back at me again, to see if she was doing it right, and I almost lost it right then. Here was the woman of my dreams, offering herself to me. My thrusts became more ragged, less smooth and tempered, and she pushed back against me, stroke for stroke. I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer with this view, so I reached a hand around and began rubbing her clit. Soon she was screaming underneath me, and just as she lost all muscle control and was about to fall, I held her up by the hips again and followed her into bliss with a shout.

Both of us collapsed on the bed, her breathless and sweaty, me fairly worn out myself. I gathered her into my arms and both of us drifted off for a short while. This time, she woke before I did, waking me up by tracing patterns across my abdomen with one finger.

I came fully awake and realized she was biting her bottom lip, something she only did when she was nervous or thinking.

"What's on your mind, luv?"

She blushed that gorgeous shade of crimson that almost matched her hair. "Well... you know how you... _do_ things... to me? She vaguely gestured at her waist area under the sheet.

"You know I love tasting you, Kitten, yes."

"Well, I was wondering...um... you know I've never done that before... but I was wondering if I could try...?" Again she gestured at the sheet, only this time at _my_ waist.

"You know you don't have to do anything, Kitten. What we do, what we have, is fantastic by itself."

"No, I want to, I just..." if possible she blushed even more, "don't know if I'd do it right or..."

Very gently, I put my hand under her chin and raised her face up until she would look at me. "Kitten, if you want to try something, I'm more than willing to let your learn on me. I won't laugh, I won't tease you, I promise. If this is something you want to learn to do, then I am more than happy to let you learn on me, and teach you a few things." So saying, I kicked the sheet down from my waist to the foot of the bed.

She took a deep breath and looked down at my cock, which had turned incredibly hard just hearing her talk about performing oral on me. She slid slowly down the bed and wrapped her smooth hand around my cock - God, I loved her hands - and began to pump up and down. She looked up at me for assurance and I smiled encouragingly. She moved her body to settle over one of my legs and gave me a slow lick. Another look for assurance, and I grinned again.

Slowly, she began to get more comfortable licking me, and when she finally sucked my head into her mouth, I swear my eyes rolled back into my head. This time, I could only groan for assurance. More confident now, she began to settle into a rhythm. My hands tangled into her hair and I ground out, "Harder."

She shot her eyes up at me and I gave a small nod, and she began to pull with rougher, stronger strokes. My hips began pumping up to meet her mouth and soon I had to warn her, "Kitten, I'm about to come." She just looked at me as if to say, "_Isn't that the point_?" and, if possible, began pulling even harder. In no time at all, I held her head in place and was shooting down the back of her throat.

She pulled her mouth off me, but kept giving me some light finger strokes as I came down from what was a very intense orgasm. When it seemed like I could think and speak again, she asked, "Was that alright?"

"_Alright_? Lucifer's bouncing balls, Kitten, that was fucking fantastic."


	28. Chapter 27

_A/N: Short one here. Glad you guys liked the last chapter. I'm currently re-reading the book, so if I see any spots where more original content might be written, I'm on it. Or, send me a private message if there's something you've always wanted to see and I'll do my best with it. Meanwhile..._

I watched in amusement as Kitten scarfed down her breakfast - well, technically it was lunchtime, but she still ordered breakfast food. It seems that last night/this morning's activities had not only worn her out - as she'd fallen asleep in my arms for hours, which I loved - but also burnt through calories and made her starving. I made a mental note to myself to make sure she ate regularly; sometimes humans who spent a lot of time around vampires often forgot to eat. That happened once they got caught up in our lifestyle, as we could go several days without feeding.

Kitten scraped her plate until it was empty, and I teased, "You can always send for more. You don't have to chew the dishes."

"It wouldn't matter if I did. I think you already lost your deposit," she replied, looking around the wreckage we'd made of the room. We'd certainly made the most of both beds... as well as tables, the couch, chairs, and any other flat surface we could find, and I'd even gotten to introduce her to the joys of shower sex. Along the way we'd shattered a lamp, managed to overturn the couch, and leave bloodstains on the carpet from her biting my shoulders to keep from screaming out loudly. My back wept blood from her nails as well. It seems I was not only teaching my Kitten about sex, but unleashing the untamed tigress she had inside her. Just one more way she was my match; no matter how rough things got, she seemed to revel in it and beg for more.

I looked around the room with a grin and stretched my arms. "Worth every farthing."

She noticed the tattoo on my arm and softly traced the pattern with a finger. "Crossbones. How appropriate. When did you get it?"

"A mate gave that to me over sixty years ago. He was a Marine who died in World War Two."

She looked a bit gobsmacked at me having ink that was over three times her age, so she changed the subject. "Did you find out anything more about Charlie?"

I'd browsed the computer while Kitten was calling in for breakfast, looking through various sites - known only to certain, deadly, _dead_ people - to see if Charlie had a price on his head. I left some messages, inquiring in certain circles if he might have crossed some wrong people.

Now, however, I thought enough time had passed that I might have some responses. I strolled over to the computer slowly - giving Kitten plenty of time to ogle my arse, which I could feel she was doing - and looked. "I'll check, should have a nibble by now."

"Ah, e-mail, and good news. Bank wire transfer completed, one hundred thousand dollars. Charlie pissed off the wrong bloke, whoever this is. I'll give him the location of where to find his body for confirmation, and Hennessey will be hearing about it soon. That'll also be twenty K for you, Kitten, and you didn't even have to kiss him."

She replied immediately. "I don't want the money."

I looked at her in consternation. "Whyever not? You earned it. I told you that was always part of the plan, even though I didn't let you in on it right off. What's the problem?"

She sighed. "Because it isn't right. It was one thing to take it when we weren't sleeping together, but I don't want to feel like a kept woman. I won't be your girlfriend and your employee at the same time. Really, the choice is yours. Pay me, and I stop sleeping with you. Keep the money, and we continue on in bed."

I knew she was thinking of what people in her small, judgemental town had said about her mum all her life - that she was a whore, and that was what was _really_ causing her to refuse the money. I could see her logic, convoluted as it was, but it still left the same result. I laughed and went over to her, taking her into my arms.

"And you wonder why I love you. When you boil it all down, you're _paying_ me to shag you, for as soon as I stop, I owe you twenty percent of every contract I take. Blimey, Kitten, you've turned me back into a whore."

Her face turned red and she stammered as she tried to explain. "That's…that's not…Dammit, you know what I meant!"

She tried squirming away, but my arms tightened into steel bands around her as my eyes started to swirl with green. "You're not going anywhere. I have twenty thousand dollars to earn, and I'm going to start working on it right now…."

Her eyes lit up with a lovely green to match, letting me know she was most interested in helping me earning my twenty thousand dollars as well. As I said, well matched. I'd broken down defense barrier number one, which was her body. Now I just needed to win her mind and her heart - both huge challenges, but I surrendered myself to the fight. What is it that they say? The perils are many but the prize is worthy? That was certainly true in this case, and I was more the up to the challenge of whatever perils got thrown my way. And the prize didn't know it yet, but she didn't stand a chance... not once I set my mind to something. She'd be mine one day - soon I hoped - but I had plenty of time to wait...


	29. Chapter 28

_A/N: Sorry about the delay in posting. In RL, I'm wrapping things up to move from the US to the UK for grad school, and am down to the single digits in terms of days now. Sadly, no, I'm not moving into Spade's house, either, nor will I have any of the NH characters' lackeys to help me schlep 3 suitcases around. *Annette scoffs at the idea of going anywhere with only THREE suitcases* No, just lil ole me dragging them from plane to train to train, with nary a vampire to help... where's Timothy, after all? No one's heard from him lately. Can't he magically show up to help me move? Anyway, on with the story... a combination of two chapters here, but in Bones' world, just 1 action sequence... _

Because of the annoying airport security that I couldn't green eye away, Kitten and I headed to a FedEx store to box up our weapons to ship home. (We got a few odd looks in the store after I assembled the boxes and we began dumping our stakes and knives in them, but I soon had them forgetting they ever saw anything unusual and, with several snickers and snorts, labeled the boxes "tofu.")

We boarded with our carry-ons and I let Kitten have the window seat again. Ugh. I really, _really_, didn't like to fly the friendly skies. I still wasn't letting on to Kitten that I could fly myself, so if the plane started to crash technically I could grab her and fly us to safety, but if, say, something went wrong with the fuselage, even a vampire could just pray. That, or turn into an imitation of a firecracker.

I was waiting, eyes closed, for take off, when Kitten noticed that something was wrong. (Sadly, she wasn't the most observant of people at times, as this whole "pleasedon'tblowuppleasedon'tblowuppleasedon'tblowup" charade had totally missed her attention on the trip here.)

"You don't like to fly, do you?" she asked.

"No, not really. One of the few ways a bloke like me can accidentally die."

After liftoff, I felt a slender finger lift my eyelid. I glared at her amused expression.

"Don't you know anything about statistics? Safest way to travel if you play it by numbers."

"Not for a vampire. We can walk away from almost any car crash, train wreck, sunken ship, or whatever. Yet when a plane goes down, not even our kind can do much about it but pray. Lost a mate in that crash in the Everglades several years ago. Poor bugger, they only ever found his kneecap."

However, our plane did land smoothly. I then went about my own, personal way of hailing a cab. I'd just glare at the drivers with my green lights on to get them to stop. Which they did, even if they already had passengers. That routine happened twice, much to Kitten's embarrassment, before I finally flagged one without occupants and we started back to her house.

I had been quiet ever since we'd gotten off the plane, mulling things over, thinking over how to phrase the things I wanted to say, and it wasn't until we were within five minutes of her house that I suddenly broke my silence.

"I take it you don't want me to see you to the door and give you a kiss goodbye in front of your mum?"

"Absolutely not!"

I gave her a look that said I didn't appreciate how emphatic she was in her response. "Be that as it may, I want to see you tonight."

She heaved a sigh. "Bones, no. I'm barely ever home anymore. Next weekend I move into my new apartment, so these next few days with my family will be all I'll have for a while. Something tells me my grandparents won't be visiting often."

"Where's the apartment?" She was getting her own place? Was this manna from heaven?

"About six miles away from the campus."

Manna from heaven, indeed. "You'll be only twenty minutes from the cave, then." _How convenient._

"I'll call you with the address on Friday. You can come over after my mother leaves. Not before. I mean it, Bones. Unless you get a lead on Hennessey or our mysterious masked rapist, give me a little time. It's already Sunday."

The taxi rounded the last corner and her long driveway came into sight. I saw it and took her hand.

"I want you to promise me something. Promise me you're not going to start running again."

"Running?" For a moment she looked perplexed, then my meaning became clear. "No, I'm too tired to run, and you're too fast. You'd only catch me."

"That's right, luv." I said it softly, but with steel underneath. "If you run from me, I'll chase you. And I'll find you."

The rest of the week was an exercise in how to go crazy without really trying. Everything was wrong, and nothing was right. My phone rang, but it wasn't the person I wanted to call, and I kept all calls short just in case I might miss a call from her. I restlessly prowled pubs and Bite, just to see if - on the slim chance - she might be there, but she never was. Finally, to keep from going completely 'round the bend, I took to flying (discreetly, of course) over her grandparents' cherry orchard on the off chance I might see the red head I'd come to love so much. I didn't, which didn't help the insanity. Eventually I took to playing endless Sudoku on my phone and watching non-stop CourtTV to keep from going completely mad.

Finally, the phone rang with the call I'd been wanting. I'd already been out doing some research on where her apartment might be earlier in the week, as part of my sanity campaign, so I just needed her to confirm which one it was, and once she did I snapped my cell shut and was quickly speeding her way on my bike.

I rapped twice on the door. When she opened it, her hair was damp from a recent wash, and I couldn't remember ever seeing anything so lovely in my life. I was moving through the entrance and locking it behind me while pulling her into my arms, all at once. Before she could breathe, my mouth covered hers in a kiss. Her hands trembled as they reached for my shoulders, but as I found her waistband and my hand dipped inside, they clenched tightly around my shirt.

"I can't breathe," she rasped, wrenching her head away.

My mouth went to her throat, lips and tongue moving over the sensitive skin as I bent her backwards until only my arms held her upright.

"I missed you," I growled, restlessly pulling off her clothes. I picked her up and just asked, "Where?"

She jerked her head in the vicinity of the bedroom, too busy licking and nibbling on my skin to answer.

I carried her into the small room and nearly flung her on the bed. Manna from heaven, indeed.


	30. Chapter 29

I'd been out getting some supplies (and yes, toilet paper was one of them, per Kitten's request) and I was in high spirits. Charles was visiting, and I hadn't seen him in months, so I was quite chipper about that. And, Kitten was due to stop by the cave after she finished her classes for the day, and I was almost bouncing up and down excited to introduce them.

Charles was well aware of my reputation as a very promiscuous vampire, so I was most eager to introduce him to the woman who had not only wrapped me around her little finger, but turned me into a one woman man. I wasn't known for doing relationships, so I knew he was interested in meeting the woman who had tamed me. And, of course, the only known half breed.

I was whistling a merry tune as I made my way into the cave. I could feel Charles' energy, so I knew he was there, and I could feel Kitten as well. Bugger. I'd meant to get back to the cave in time to introduce them, but it looked like I was too late.

I turned the corner to head into the cave and stopped short. Charles was face down on the floor of the cave, with Kitten astride him. Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn't that. Even though I knew Charles wouldn't make a move on Kitten - he wasn't known for relationships with humans anyway - and I knew that after being best mates for over two centuries, he wouldn't betray me by trying to make a play for Kitten, still, vampire territorialism reared it's ugly head immediately.

I arched a brow at the sight and was quite proud of myself for managing to say calmly, "Charles, you'd better have a splendid explanation for her being on top of you."

They both stood and Charles answered me. "Believe me, mate, I've never enjoyed a woman astride me less. I came out to say hallo, and this she-devil blinded me by flinging rocks in my eyes. Then she vigorously attempted to split my skull before threatening to impale me with silver if I so much as even twitched! It's been a few years since I've been to America, but I daresay the method of greeting a person has changed dramatically!"

I rolled my eyes and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're still upright, Charles, and the only reason you are is because she didn't _have_ any silver. She'd have staked you right and proper otherwise. She has a tendency to shrivel someone first and then introduce herself afterwards."

"That's uncalled for!" Kitten protested.

"Right." I wasn't about to touch that with a ten foot pole. "Kitten, this is my best mate, Charles, but you can call him Spade. Charles, this is Cat, the woman I've been telling you about. You can see for yourself that everything I've said is … an understatement."

Kitten looked abashed, and she hemmed and hawed a bit before finally holding out her hand. "Hi."

"Hi," Charles repeated, and then threw back his head and roared with laughter. "Well, hallo to you, too, darling! I'm very pleased to meet you now that you're not flogging me unmercifully."

I watched as they gave each other a once over, making sure Charles didn't linger in any areas I considered mine alone.

"Spade. You're white. Isn't that kind of…politically incorrect?" Kitten asked.

Charles laughed again, but with less humor. "Oh, I didn't choose that as a racial slur. It was how the overseer in South Wales used to address me. A spade is a shovel, and I was a digger. He never called anyone by their names, only their assigned tool. He didn't feel the convicts were worthy of more."

"Sounds pretty demeaning. Why'd you keep it?"

Charles' smile didn't slip, but his face hardened. "So I'd never forget."

Knowing it was a sensitive subject for him, I knew a change of subject was in order. "Charles has some information on a flunky of Hennessey's who might prove useful."

"Great," Kitten said. "Should I grab my slut clothes and pile on the makeup?"

"You should stay out of it," Charles replied in a serious tone.

"My God, is it a vampire thing to be a chauvinist? Or just an eighteenth century one? Keep the girl in the kitchen where she won't get hurt, right? Wake up and smell the twenty-first century, _Spade_! Women are good for more than cringing and waiting for men to rescue them!" Kitten flared.

"And if Crispin felt differently for you, I'd bid you good luck and tell you to have at it," Charles responded at once. "Yet I happen to know firsthand how devastating it is when someone you love is murdered. There's nothing worse, and I don't want him going through that."

"Look, I'm sorry vampires killed someone close to you, truly I am. But—"

"Vampires didn't kill her," he interrupted. "A group of French deserters cut her throat."

Kitten opened her mouth, paused, and shut it. That in and of itself was a rare occurrence. Normally she just said whatever popped into her head, with no thought as to any repercussions.

She gave me a questioning look, not sure how much I'd told him about her. "I'm not like everyone else," was what she ended up saying.

"So I've heard," Charles said. "And you certainly caught me off guard earlier, but whatever your extraordinary abilities…you're easy to kill. That beating pulse in your neck is your greatest weakness, and if I'd had a mind to before, I could have flipped you over and torn it out."

Kitten smiled. "You're pretty cocky. So am I, when it comes to certain things. We'll get along just fine. Wait right here."

"Kitten…" I called after her, having no doubt as to where she was headed.

"Oh, this'll be fun!"

"Where's she off to?" Charles asked.

I made a noise that was almost pitying. "To hand you your arse, and for the record, if I thought I had a chance of keeping her out of this, I would. Woman's stubborn beyond reason."

"Stubbornness won't keep her alive. I'm astounded you'd allow her to—"

Charles stopped talking when Kitten appeared, knives in her hands.

"Okay, you're a big bad vampire who's gonna rip my throat out, right? You see I'm armed — with steel, by the way, since this is a demonstration and I don't want you to end up smelly — and you don't care because you're all that and I'm just an artery in a dress. If you get a mouth on my throat, you win, but if I plug your heart first, I do."

Charles' eyes slid to me. "Is she joking?"

I cracked my knuckles and stepped aside. "Not at all."

"Dinner's getting cold," Kitten taunted him. "Come and get me, bloodsucker."

Charles laughed—and then feinted right before leaping at her with blurring speed. He was a breath away when he looked down in surprise.

"Well, strike me pink!" he said, pulling himself up in mid-tackle.

"I don't know what that means, but okay."

Two steel blades were in his chest. He stared at them before ripping them out and turning to me in amazement. "I don't believe it."

"That's just what I said, mate," I replied dryly. "She has a real talent with knives. It's a damn good thing she hadn't practiced throwing them before we met, or I might not be here."

"Indeed." Charles was still shaking his head when he looked at Kitten next. "All right, Cat. You've made an excellent point that you're far deadlier than you look. I see I can't sway you to leave this business with Hennessey alone, and Crispin clearly has confidence in you, so I bow in defeat."

He gave a refined bow, his long dark hair brushing the cave floor with the graceful motion of it. Kitten laughed. "What were you before they sent you to prison, a duke?"

Charles straightened and smiled. "Baron Charles DeMortimer. At your service."


	31. Chapter 30

I watched from the rooftop of a nearby building as Kitten lurked in an alley, playing the part of junkie looking for her next fix. Really, she was starting to get very good at this. She certainly looked the part, having had me rough her up a bit to start. Not my favorite thing to do, by far, but necessary in this instance, Below me, she was bruised, scratched and bedraggled as she twitched and jerked her gaze around as if she was worried the vampire headed her way was a cop. Both of us knew he wasn't, of course, but the vampire in question didn't. He just thought she was another easy mark.

She asked him for some heroin, and he promised her he had some in his car. Still wary, she went along with him. Again, all part of the plan. He led her further down the alley (and closer to where Ted's junker car was parked; excellent), open the the door to the car for her, and as she bent down for a look, he cracked her over the back of the head. We'd known this might happen, but still, seeing it, made me see red and made me want to make sure Tony hurt. A lot.

Kitten fell into the car and Tony swung her legs in, then took off. Things were going quite well for him until two things happened: the first was me slamming into the back of his car, and the second was Kitten knifing him in the chest very close to his heart. That must've really gotten his attention, because he followed Kitten's directive to pull over. I revved my engine behind him for emphasis, and without further delay, Tony brought the car to a stop.

I opened the driver's door. "Well, Tony, how goes it?"

Tony shouted, "I don't know where Hennessey is!"

"Right, mate, and I believe you. Kitten, if you'll drive? He and I are going to have a talk."

I finagled Tony into the backseat while Kitten got in the driver's seat and adjusted the mirror so she could see us. "Where to?"

"Just around, until our mate Tony here tells us otherwise."

We left Ted's junker on the side of the road. Really, a chop shop owner - especially one with ghoul connections - was such a valuable friend. I made a mental note to send him a Christmas ham.

"I don't know anything, I'm just trying to make a buck," Tony tried again.

"Liar," I said pleasantly. "You're one of Hennessey's, and don't tell me you don't know how to contact him. All vampires know how to reach their sire. Just for your miserable existence, I should kill you. Pretending to sell drugs to addicts and then green eying them into thinking they've gotten what they paid for—you're pathetic."

"Asshole," Kitten agreed.

"He'll kill me." Tony whimpered.

"Not if he's dead, he won't, and you're as good as that now yourself. What do you think Hennessey will do if he finds out you let yourself get captured? Think he'll look kindly on how you were peddling your wares for me to find you? He'll forgive you because he's such a good bloke, right? He'll rip your bloody head off and you know it. I'm your only hope, mate."

Tony looked at Kitten as if for help. She gave him a one fingered response, and it wasn't a thumbs up.

Tony turned back to me. "Promise me you won't kill me and I'll tell you everything."

"I won't kill you unless you refuse to talk," I said curtly. "And if you lie to me, I really won't kill you, but you'll want me to. Count on it." Said coldly.

Tony began to talk. Fast. "Hennessey's been real secretive about his location lately, but if I need something, I'm supposed to go to Lola. I have her address—she's in Lansing. She and Hennessey are pretty tight. If she doesn't know where he is, she'll know who does."

"Give me her address."

Tony rattled off the information. Bones didn't bother to write it down, but maybe that was

because he still held the dagger in Tony's chest.

"Kitten, get on the I–69 and head north. We're going to Lansing."

It was a three-hour drive. I played around on my phone and got exact directions from MapQuest on my cell phone. I love modern technology,

We walked the last half mile, parking Tony's car in a nearby grocery store lot and taking him with us. I held the knife next to me with a malevolent smirk, commenting that if Tony even squeaked, that would be the end of him. As we approached, we realized Lola lived in a snazzy apartment complex.

"Her car's not here," Tony whispered, taking my threat seriously and keeping his voice down.

"You can tell from one glance, aye?" I asked with heavy skepticism.

"When you see it, you'll understand," Tony replied.

I put a finger to my lips as we got within a hundred feet of the place, indicating with hand signals that Tony and Kitten were to stay put while I checked the building.

I slunk around the far side of the building and then disappeared. Minutes ticked by, stretching into an hour. I was perched on top of the apartment building, where I could see the parking lot, as well as keep an eye on Kitten and Tony.

Kitten was starting to look really uncomfortable and was beginning to look for softer ground when she was distracted by a car pulling in. Well, well, well. Tony was right; you _would_ notice Lola's fire engine red Ferrari. Everything about Lola screamed money: her car, clothes and purse were all expensive. She was about a dozen feet from the entrance to her building when I stepped into sight.

She made the mistake of trying to run, but I quickly pounced. "Not so fast, Lola."

Her chin came up. "How dare you touch me!"

"Dare?" I gave a dark laugh. "There's a fine word. It implies courage. Are you brave, Lola? We'll soon find out." I drew out the last sentence with meaning. She looked around once before glaring at me.

"You're making a big mistake."

"Wouldn't be my first." I yanked her up to me. "Right, then, sweetness. You know what I want."

"Hennessey and the others are going to kill you, it's only a matter of time," she spat.

I grasped her jaw and brought her face closer. "Now, I don't like abusing women, but I think you've earned the right to be an exception. It isn't very private here, so I'm operating under a bit of a time crunch. You're going to tell me who else is involved with Hennessey, and where to find them all right now, or I promise you you'll endure every torment and humiliation you've helped to inflict on others. Fancy that? I've met some depraved, beastly blokes in my travels who would just love to give you a taste of your own poison. Tell you what—I'll even sell you to them. Turnabout's fair game, isn't it? I'd say that was fair all the way 'round."

Lola's eyes widened. "I don't know where Hennessey is, he hasn't told me!"

I started dragging her back toward the parking lot. "You've just made Christmas come early for some happy deviants," I said crisply.

"Wait!" It was a plea. "I know where Switch is!"

I stopped and gave her a rough shake. "Who's Switch?"

"Hennessey's enforcer," Lola said with a curl to her mouth. "You know how he hates to get his hands dirty. Switch handles the messy things, like silencing witnesses and hiding the bodies. He's also recruiting for more help, since we don't have Stephanie, Charlie, and Dean anymore. With Hennessey's new protection, we don't even have to worry about any pesky human interference."

I asked, "What's Switch's real name, and who's Hennessey's new protection?"

Several things happened at once. Two forms dropped from the ten-story roof, directly about Lola and myself, and Kitten jumped out from the bushes. "Heads up!"

Lola pulled a blade from her purse as I looked up, and Kitten let fly the three silver knives in her hand. Tony chose that moment to pounce. She'd let go of him to make that toss, and he came at her with fangs bared, knocking her to the ground. She held off his snapping jaws and twisted, ramming her knees into his chest to throw him back, and then plunged her other blade into his heart. He made an odd noise, almost like a pained giggle, and fell over on his side.

I knelt over Lola. She was on the cement, and silver protruded from her chest in a tight circle of three. Behind them were two bodies with two unattached heads. So much for the aerial attackers.

I rose from my kneeling position and swung my gaze to Kitten. "Lucifer's bouncing balls, Kitten, not _again_!"

She squirmed a bit, which usually meant she had something to hide.

"She was going to stab you," She said in defense. "Look in her hand!"

I'd strolled over and was looking at the ground near her feet instead. "Him, too?"

She gave a sheepish nod "He jumped me."

I just stared at her for a moment, unable to comprehend how this twenty two year old girl had taken down two vampires in less than three minutes. "You're not a woman," I said finally. "You're the Grim Reaper with red hair!"

"That's not fair—" she protested, but a shrill scream cut her off.

A woman leaving for work saw the bodies, screamed, and ran back inside. Not your usual morning commute sight.

I sighed and yanked the blades out of Lola. "Come on, Kitten, let's go. Before you murder someone else."

"I don't find that funny—"

"At least I got some information out of Lola first," I went on conversationally, tugging her back toward the car. "Hennessey's enforcer, Switch. We'll start by trying to find out who he is."

"She was going to _kill_ you—"

"Did it ever occur to you to aim for something other than the heart?" More screams came from behind us as more people tried to leave for work.

We had reached the car, and I suddenly gave her a quick, sound kiss.

"I love that you did it to protect me, but next time, try aiming to wound, hmm? You know, maybe throw the knives at someone's head instead? Then they're incapacitated momentarily, but not reduced to a pile of rotting remains. Just food for thought."

She'd killed to protect _me_, a two hundred and twenty year old vampire, and moreover someone who could jolly well take care of himself. After all, _I_ trained _her_. That must mean she had feelings for me beyond sex, right? A man could hope.


	32. Chapter 31

A/N: To all my reviewers and readers, let me just say this: trying to re-write this book from Bones' perspective is bloody _hard_. A lot harder than I thought it would be when I started. I have to leave enough of the book content so that the reader knows where we are, yet try to put in some original thoughts by Bones. I apologize if you think some of my chapters follow the books too closely or are just putting Cat's thoughts into Bones' head, but like I said, I have to somehow follow the original action, which is all from Cat's point of view. In the last chapter, I cut out large portions of Cat thinking about missing an exam and having PMS, to focus on the activity with Bones. That being said, I do try each and every chapter to interject something new from Bones. (I really thought the idea of him sending Ted a Christmas ham was hysterical, but maybe that's just me.) I'm getting off my soapbox now so we can meet Timmie. And so I can cut out the entire section of Cat taking her exam and talking to Timmie about drooling. But I do thank _each and every one _of you for taking the time to review.

After the fiasco that was Tony and Lola, I drove my little Grim Reaper back to her apartment. She was still bedraggled - even more so from wrestling with Tony - and hadn't had any of my blood to heal her scratches and bruises, so she was a pretty sorry sight. And tired. And cranky. And evidently worried about missing an exam, as things with Tony had taken much longer than we thought they would.

We arrived back at her apartment complex, and as she got out of the car I told her, "I have to drop this off at Ted's. Should be back in a few hours."

"I'll be asleep," she mumbled, looking dead on her feet. "Do we have to—"

"Hi, Cathy!"

The voice calling out to her came from a slim young bloke in the flat next to her's. I took one look at him, the adoring look on his face when he looked at her, the smell of lust so strong I caught it wafting all the way down the stairs and to the car, and I hated him. Enough to kill him and cheerfully hide the body. Blackout vampire territorialism rage, full on!

I gave him such a dark look that the lad started to stutter. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you had company," he apologized, almost tripping to hurry back into his flat.

Kitten gave me a hostile glare. "It's okay," she said, smiling at the lad. "He's not really 'company' anyway."

"Oh." The lad gave me a shy peek from his doorway. "Are you Cathy's brother?"

"Whatever would give you the idea that I'm her damn brother?" I snapped.

He backed up so fast, he hit the back of his head against his door frame. "Sorry!" he gasped, and banged into the door again before managing to scramble back inside.

Kitten marched over to me and stuck her finger in my chest. I gave her a sullen look and ignored the pointed finger.

"You have a choice," she said, biting out each word. "Either you make a very _sincere_ apology to Timmie now, or you leave and slither back to your cave like the festering ball sack you just acted like. I don't know what's gotten into you, but he's a nice guy, and you probably just made him pee his pants. Your decision, Bones. One or the other."

I arched a brow at her, not willing to apologize to the shit. Kitten was _mine_ and he needed to keep his damn eyes to himself. However, Kitten, on the other hand, wasn't taking no for an answer. She tapped her foot at me. "One…two…"

I cursed under my breath and then climbed the stairs, rapping twice on the lad's door.

"Right, then, mate, terribly sorry for my unspeakable rudeness, and I do beg your pardon," I said with what I thought was an admirable impression of humbleness when he cracked it open. Only a slight edge was audible in my voice. "I can only say that it was caused by my natural affront to the notion of her as my sister. Since I'll be shagging her tonight, you can imagine how I'd be distressed at the thought of rogering my sibling."

"You schmuck!" Kitten burst out as the lad's jaw dropped. "The only thing you'll be shagging tonight is yourself!"

"You wanted sincerity," I countered. "Well, luv, I was sincere."

"You can get right back in the car and I'll see you later, if you're not being such an ass!"

The lad's head swiveled back and forth between the two of us like he was watching a match at Wimbledon, his jaw still swinging open.

I gave him a smile that was more just a baring of teeth. "Nice to meet you, mate, and here's some advice: Don't even think about it. You try anything with her and I'll neuter you with my bare hands."

"Leave!" Kitten stomped at me.

I swung past her and then swiveled, kissing her hard on the mouth before jumping back to avoid her right hook. She was _mine_ and he needed to see that. No matter that she took a swing at me, she was still _mine_.

"I'll see you later, Kitten." _All of you, because like I told the lad, I'll be rogering you until you can't walk for days... because _you...are...mine.


	33. Chapter 32

_A/N: So, some new Bones in here, and then sorry, but lots of boring, chasing Hennessey conversation (zzzz) , but we have to get through it to get to the next chapter, which should be full of zing!. Next chapter, meeting Francesca!_

I made my way over to Kitten's, thinking to take her out to eat. I loved doing it - not just because food kept her alive, and I definitely preferred her alive (well, I wouldn't mind her as a full vampire or a ghoul either, actually, but I certainly preferred her _above_ ground) but it was something normal we could do together. Sometimes I even ate, too, just to make her feel a little less self-conscious about eating alone, and to make her feel more like she was dating a normal man. If such a thing as one of those existed.

I hadn't called first, thinking to surprise her, but when I pulled into her parking lot I picked up on voices coming from her apartment. One was the lad next door (I did _not_ like that; I should be the only male allowed to cross that threshold), one was Kitten's, and the third was from a female I didn't recognize. But the topic of conversation soon had me making a pretty strong conclusion as to whom that third voice belonged to: Kitten's mum.

There was a lot of religious mumbo-jumbo, and one recurring thread kept coming back over and over again. There was a lot of "death to all demons, can I get an amen?" going on. The lad from next door seemed to be involved in it somehow, although I couldn't quite figure out his role in it just yet. I waited near the parking lot, out of sight, until a lovely dark haired woman emerged from Kitten's apartment and left. Hmph. I'd always thought Hennessey to be the biggest adversary of my life, but this one mortal woman left him in the dust.

I made my way upstairs and opened the door to Kitten's apartment, and nearly lost my head, I was so incandescent with rage. There was Kitten, _my_ Kitten, in the arms of the lad from next door. Oh, so he hadn't heeded my warning, eh? Well, he'd soon find out I never bluffed.

"Am I interrupting something?" I asked in a cool voice that left no doubt how pissed off I was.

The lad jumped like he'd been stabbed. "Ungh!"

Kitten turned to me in irritation. "Dammit, tell him you're not going to neuter him!"

I crossed my arms and regarded him without pity. "Why?"

She gave me an evil look. "Because if you don't, I'm going to get really, really celibate."

Her glare told me she meant it. I made an acquiescing gesture that nevertheless sent the lad bolting in the opposite direction.

"Don't fret, mate. You can leave with your stones intact, but remember, pretending to be her boyfriend was just that. Don't let the fantasy go to your head."

"You heard that?" Kitten asked nervously.

My mouth twisted with disgust. "Death to all demons, can I get an amen?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but I went a little nuts when she accused me of—of drinking!"

"You do drink," I responded, thinking of all the gin and tonics I'd seen her pound away.

"No!" She tapped her neck. "I mean of _drinking_."

The lad from next door looked completely confused, but her meaning was finally clear to me. "Bloody hell," I said finally.

She nodded. "In a nutshell."

I turned back to the lad. "Private time, lad. Say goodbye." I could've been nicer, since it seemed he was just helping her out with her mum, but I was still miffed that she'd hugged him at all. Those were _my_ arms, and _I_ was the only one allowed in their embrace. That was as nice as he was going to get.

"Timmie, thanks so much again, I'll see you in the morning," Kitten gave him another smile. Dammit! What was it about this bloke that made her smile so bloody much at him?

He looked glad to be on his way and made a beeline for the exit. Just as he was out the door, however, he stuck his head back in.

"I don't mind foreigners. God save the queen!" he squeaked, and ran.

I arched a brow. She sighed. "Didn't hear that part? Never mind. Don't ask."

The next two weeks we spent looking for Switch, or any clues to his identity, getting nowhere. What was worse was that the faster we looked for police records on the missing girls, the faster they disappeared.

"This makes no sense," I fumed. "Hennessey's been snatching up girls for the better part of six decades, and he's never been this careful before. When things got messy, he'd leave. Pick another area to spin his web. I can't fathom why he's taking the time to mesmerize their families, why he's making the additional effort to have the police reports disappear, or what he's up to!"

We were back at the cave, so we could talk without having to worry about one of Kitten's neighbors (or the bloody lad from next door) overhearing. The walls were thin there. I got a very masculine satisfaction out of all the things he must've heard coming from her bedroom. We weren't quiet.

"Maybe he's tired of running," Kitten offered. "He's comfy, wants to stay awhile, and knows if the headlines start blaring about a serial killer, the police will have to get serious. Then he'd have to lay low or get out. What if that's his motivation?"

I gave her a look while bent over my laptop. "I've considered that, but there has to be more. Lola said he had new protection, remember? That's the wild card. Whoever they are, he's being a damned sight more discreet for them, and it begs the question why. They're either vampires or humans of prominence, is what I reckon. People with reputations to protect."

"Corrupt cops? Maybe a police chief? Some of those reports could have been accidentally lost, but not all of them. Say you're the chief of police, or you're running for sheriff, whatever, and you want to get some easy cash while still making the public believe you're competent. A bunch of disappearances would look bad. So you try to get your business partner to clean up his act, and maybe you tip him off as to where he can find some vulnerable girls. God, if it was a sheriff, he could invite Hennessey to pick his favorites out of a lineup at the local stockade! Then he could make the records disappear as well. What if all such a person asked for in return was that Hennessey control public outcry? It's not such a big price to pay, is it?"

I tapped his chin, considering that. Then my cell phone rang.

"Hallo…. Yes, Charles, I can hear you…. Where?… When?…_Who_?…Alright, I'll see you shortly."

I hung up, staring at Kitten.

"What?" she asked impatiently.

"Seems there's been a development. He's with one of Hennessey's people now who wants to talk to me about switching sides."

"I'm going with you," she said instantly.

Inwardly I groaned, but outwardly I just made a regretful noise. "I knew you'd say that."


	34. Chapter 33

_A/N: Lots of new Bones in here, but I did leave in Francesca's rambling on about masterless vampires, etc. Skip it if you aren't interested, but it does get referred later and in future books. _

I knew this was going to go badly, I just couldn't have predicted quite _how_ badly. Although, looking at it in hindsight, in a way it actually went quite well, as it brought out Kitten's innate, but thus far dormant, vampire territorialism. So it that way, seeing her be so possessive of me to Francesca was a relief, in a masculine sort of way, and it gave me a reason to believe that she might be starting to think of me as hers. And while I'd never in my life wanted to be tied to anyone for anything longer than a few shags, I realized I desperately wanted to be hers. As I wanted her to be mine.

Charles opened the door to the hotel room and flicked his gaze to Kitten, who was standing just behind my shoulder. "I'm surprised you brought her with you, Crispin."

I could feel Kitten bristle at being spoken about like that, but I merely responded, "Better to have her come and know what transpired than for her to stay back and wonder about it. Let us enter, Charles, so we can get started."

Francesca was in the center of the room. I could tell that Kitten hadn't noticed her yet, as she was goggling a bit at the opulence and size of the hotel room. Vampires always do like a flashy show, and we certainly don't skimp on our accomodations - my staying in the cave not withstanding.

I could tell the second Kitten noticed Francesca because behind me, her whole body stiffened. Francesca was quite fetching, a fact I'd certainly noticed when I'd met her 'round ninety years before. She'd been stolen from her nunnery by Hennessey and turned against her will, and, as many young vampires do, went a bit overboard in indulging in the fact that normal, human rules no longer applied to her. And in her case, given the fact that she hadn't chosen to enter the nunnery of her own free will but had the decision chosen for her by her family as a very young child, she went doubly crazy.

Being as Francesca was incredibly lovely, with gorgeous curves, long, curly black hair and pouty lips, I certainly hadn't minded helping her break free of her previous restraints. But, as so often happens with vampires, we parted ways. Most vampires don't choose a life-long partner, because there's a very good possibility our lives could be very long indeed, and divorce isn't an option.

"Francesca," I said, giving her a kiss on the cheek and trying to just get things started, hopefully without major carnage. "I'm glad you've come."

But Francesca wasn't going to play it professionally. "Bones…" She drew my name out like it was candy, and gave me a lingering kiss on the cheek, leaving her lips on there long enough to leave a bright red lipstick imprint. Then her eyes shifted to Kitten's in open challenge.

Charles put a hand on Kitten's shoulder, which seemed to shake her from a state of murderous contemplation. Her eyes were starting to go green.

"Francesca, this is Cat," I said next, gesturing to her. "She's with me, so you need not hesitate about speaking freely with her present."

Kitten advanced with something that was probably meant to be a smile stretching her face, but looked more like a snarl. I almost choked at her words, first because she was normally fairly prudish, and second because they let me know that she, too, wasn't here to play nice.

"Hi. We're sleeping together." My eyebrows shot all the way up into my hairline at her words, and Charles muttered that this was not the wisest of ideas.

Francesca didn't have either of our reactions. She curled her full, pouty lips and said, "But of course, _niña_. Who could resist him?" So saying, she trailed her fingers down the side of my shirt in open challenge, and in response Kitten's hand shot out.

"Kitten." I caught her hand and tucked it casually in my arm. "Let's sit, shall we?"

I led her toward a nearby couch, not letting go of her hand. I must have missed something that happened behind me, because suddenly Kitten's free hand swung out and grabbed my arse. I turned in surprise in time to see Kitten give Francesca a glare as she gave my arse a squeeze.

I stopped, glancing down meaningfully. Kitten snatched her hand back, looking at it almost in confusion. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Quite all right," I said with a smile to make her feel less embarrassed. "Just a bit more difficult to walk." She laughed a bit and whispered, "You can let go now," and I let go of the hand I had tucked into my arm.

I sat next to her on the couch, Charles taking the empty space next to me. That left Francesca to slink into the chair opposite us. My feeling of that being a good idea was extremely short lived, however. Francesca settled herself and then crossed her legs.

I knew without looking that Kitten's face would resemble an overripe tomato. Francesca not only had her box unwrapped, she had it shaved smooth as well. I grabbed Kitten again so fast, my hand hadn't even had time to cool from previously holding it. I squeezed it to reassure her that I was very much with her, and Francesca's open art showing hadn't swayed me to her side.

"We all know why we're here," I said as calmly as possible. "It's no secret that I'm after Hennessey and you're one of his, Francesca. I know you and he aren't close, but it is still the highest offense to betray your sire. Make no mistake, I'm out to kill him, and any information you give me will be used for that purpose."

Francesca smiled a bit. "Why else would I be here, if I didn't want you to kill him? If you were to do less, I wouldn't risk it. You know I've hated him for the past ninety-three years. Ever since he took me from my convent and turned me."

"You were a nun?" Kitten asked in disbelief, actually peeping back up her dress to make sure she hadn't misunderstood. "You're kidding."

"Bones, what is her purpose here? Why must she stay?" Francesca demanded, pouting a bit, ignoring Kitten.

My eyes glinted emerald at her. "She's here because I want her to be, and it's not up for discussion."

"I want Hennessey dead," Francesca summarized after losing a staring contest with me. "He has been my Master for too long."

"What does she mean, her Master?" Kitten asked.

"Vampires operate under a form of pyramid scheme," I explained. "Each line is ranked by the strength of its head, or the Master, and every person the Master sires is under the Master's rule. Feudalism would be another example of it. There you had the lord of the manor, and they were responsible for the welfare of all those on their lands, but in return, their people owed them loyalty and part of their income. Such is the way with vampires, with a few more variations."

"So in other words, vampire society is like Amway and a cult rolled into one." Kitten summarized.

Francesca muttered something rude in Spanish. "Speak English, and without the sarcasm," I said to her curtly.

Big dark eyes blinked in anger. "If I didn't know you to be the man you are, I'd leave right now."

"But you do know me," I replied smoothly. "And if I choose to detail our world to the woman I'm with, that shouldn't suggest I take your position less seriously. You really should show Cat a bit more respect. It was because of her your fondest wish was nearly granted and Hennessey was almost dust."

At that, Francesca laughed. "You're the vomiter!"

Kitten didn't seem to particularly like being referred to that way, but nevertheless responded, "That's me."

Francesca was still smiling. "Well, _niña_, that does afford you some latitude. Hennessey didn't say very much about you. He was too incensed, and so humiliated. It was truly a pleasure to witness."

"Does he know how much you hate him?" Kitten asked skeptically. "Because if he does, how are you going to get close enough to help us?"

Francesca leaned forward, opening up her cleavage. "Hennessey knows very well that I hate him, but I've managed to hide things from him before." She stopped and gave me a knowing smile, and I could feel Kitten almost lose it again. "He enjoys keeping me, knowing how much I despise being his. Vampires can only leave their sire's domination if they win in a duel against them, get ransomed by another Master, or are released as a gesture of goodwill. Hennessey is too strong for me to beat, there is no goodwill in him, and he will never let another vampire ransom me. Yet not for a moment does he believe I'll betray him. He thinks I fear too much what he would do to me if I were caught."

"Then you and I have something in common," Kitten said, before glancing at me and letting out a bark of ironic laughter. "Well, something _else_. I want Hennessey dead, too. That's all we really need to know about each other, isn't it?"

Francesca raked Kitten with her eyes then her shoulder lifted in a shrug. "_Sí_. I suppose it is."

Charles and I exchanged a glance, Charles with a small smile.

"Aside from the obvious, Francesca, what do you want in return for supplying information?" I asked, getting back to the subject.

"You to take me," she replied at once.

"Not gonna happen!" Kitten spat, squeezing me possessively.

All the eyes in the room fixed on her. Suddenly she looked down and realized that was she had a firm grip on was _not_ my hand.

Charles started to laugh even as Kitten turned red again, yanking her hand back. My own lips twitched, but I didn't dare join in the growing chuckles that had Charles dabbing at his eyes.

"That's not what she means, luv," I said in a carefully neutral tone. "Francesca means that with the head of her line deceased, she wants to be under another vampire's protection. I could claim her as one of mine, thereby 'taking' her. Although I'm still under Ian's yoke, he hasn't exercised any of his authority over me in a very long time, which is why I haven't bothered to challenge him to be on my own. I've had more freedom this way, and because of our understanding, I wouldn't need his consent to take Francesca under normal circumstances, getting his consent would be the proper way."

"Why wouldn't you want to be on your own?" Kitten wondered.

"Masterless vampires are open game, _niña_. There's no accountability for any cruelty done to them. Like with your nations. If you are a man or a woman with no country, who do you appeal to when you're in need? Who defends you?"

"That's a damn brutal system you people operate under," Kitten said.

"Don't be so naïve," Francesca said sharply. "It's a far kinder structure than the one you're in. How many humans starve to death each day because your nations refuse to care for their own? Even still, how many Americans die from illnesses when treatment is readily available but withheld if they can't afford it? Vampires would never allow any of their people to go about hungry or in poverty. Even Hennessey, who is a beast, would consider it a personal insult to have anyone belonging to him in such a condition. Consider that. The worst of our kind treats his people better than your countries treat their citizens."

"Francesca…" Charles had stopped laughing.

She waved at him. "I'm finished."

Kitten wasn't. "If you bloodsuckers are such paragons of virtue, then why haven't any of you stood up to stop Hennessey from plowing through my kind? I mean, Bones tells me about how five percent of everyone walking isn't alive, so there's a lot of you! Or is it that the kidnapping, rape, murder, and consumption of humans doesn't rank as important?"

I smoothed my hand on her arm. "Kitten, perhaps—"

Francesca interrupted me by bolting out of her chair. "Wake up! What Hennessey's doing is nothing compared to what humans do! Each year, over fifty thousand teenage Colombians are sold into slavery across Europe and Asia, and that isn't by vampires! In the Congo, over a hundred thousand women have been brutalized—by the rebels, and the soldiers in their own military! Pakistan still has areas where 'honor' rapes and killings of women are ordered by the courts, and yet your country and the rest of the world do nothing about it! Vampires may tend to their own business first, but if we were to truly start policing this planet, we'd get rid of the humans, who are the greatest evildoers—"

"That's enough!" I was in front of her in a blink. I didn't touch her, but my voice was as sharp as a whip. "I seem to remember a very young girl who had similar views 'round ninety years ago. Now, to answer your condition, yes, I'll take you as one of mine after I kill Hennessey. Furthermore, should any information you pass to me prove instrumental, I'll pay you accordingly when it's over. You have my word on both counts. Is that sufficient for you?"

Francesca's eyes were bright emerald green, but slowly they darkened back into their normal brown. She sat down, chewed on her lip for a moment, and then nodded. "We have an agreement."

Thank Christ Almighty, now let's get the bloody hell out of here before Charles and I have to physically separate those two.


	35. Chapter 34

Realizing that we had better separate Kitten and Francesca before the hair pulling and knife throwing began, I quickly learned that Francesca didn't know who Switch really was or who Hennessey's connections were, so I just gave her my mobile number and Charles distracted Francesca with small talk whilst I steered Kitten out of the room.

She was still angry, I could smell it, so I decided a walk might do some good to cool her off. And myself, if I was honest. Watching her be so possessive of me had switched me on good and proper, and I needed a bit of a cool off myself. So, with that in mind, I led her to the stairs rather than the elevator.

"You never told me about vampire society before," Kitten said calmly on the twentieth floor.

I glanced over at her, her hands stuffed in her pockets now rather than grabbing anything of mine. I was saddened by that, but just answered, "You never asked."

"I guess I didn't."

She'd never asked me anything about vampires except how to kill them. This was an interesting turn of events. Kitten, interested in vampire society? I definitely wasn't imagining it anymore, she _was_ changing her thinking.

"How did it happen?" she asked very softly. "How did vampires begin?"

My lips almost curled up in a triumphant smile, but I tried to keep them still. "You want the evolutionary or the creationist version?"

"Creationist. I'm a believer."

"We began with two brothers who had different lives and functions, and one was jealous of the other. So jealous, in fact, that it led to the world's first murder. Cain killed Abel, and God drove him out, but not before putting a mark upon him to make him distinguishable from everyone else."

"Genesis, Chapter Four," she whispered, it being quiet in the stairwell and me having supernatural hearing. "Mom was big on me learning the Bible."

"This next part wasn't in any Bible you read," I went on, casting her sideways glances. "The 'mark' was his transformation into becoming undead. For his punishment in spilling blood, he was forced to drink it for the rest of his days. Cain later regretted killing his brother and he created his own people, his own society that existed on the fringe of the one he'd been expelled from. The children he 'reproduced' were vampires, and they made others of their kind, and so on. Of course, if you ask a ghoul, they have a different version. They say Cain was turned into a ghoul, not a vampire. Been a cause of bickering ever since about who was first, but Cain isn't around to settle that."

"What happened to him?"

"He's the undead version of the Man Upstairs. Watching over his children in the shadows. Who knows if he really is? Or if God finally considered his debt paid and took him back?"

She seemed to be thinking this over, and a bit angrily, I picked up my pace.

"Makes you think your mum is right, doesn't it?" I asked a trifle bitterly. "That we're all murderers? We're the offspring of the world's first, unless you side with the notion that vampires and ghouls are a random evolutionary mutation."

She kept up with me as we continued down, down...

Finally, she gave a shrug. "The first of my kind has gotten a lot of shit for what she did also. That whole apple business makes it harder for me to criticize."

I laughed delightedly—and then whirled her up in my arms so fast her feet were still looking for the next step. I crushed my mouth down on hers, taking her breath away. The possessiveness she'd shown upstairs came back as her arms went around my neck, her legs wrapped around my waist, and she kissed me like she was trying to erase the memory of every woman before her.

I ripped her jeans from zipper to thigh, unzipped my own trousers, crushed her against the wall and thrust inside her in one stroke. She clung to me, nails digging into my back deeper and harder, and locked her mouth onto my throat to swallow her cries. I moaned into her skin, one hand under her hips, the other tangled into her hair as I moved faster, deeper. There was nothing gentle about this. There was nothing but pure, unbridled passion. The harder, the faster I went, the more she reveled in it, and as for me? For me, the was nothing in this world I had ever found that was like being inside this woman. It was perfect. It was home.

Everything inside her suddenly clenched, tightening her walls around me (ohgodohgodohgod) and then released in pure ecstasy. I followed right behind her, crying out as well, and a few shattering minutes later relaxed against her.

I heard a door open, someone gasp, and emerald seeped from my gaze as I snapped, "Walk away, you've seen nothing!" before a door slammed. That's when the sex haze lifted from Kitten and embarrassment crept across her face.

"My God, what is the matter with me?" She pushed at me, and I set her on her feet with a last, long kiss.

"Not a bloody thing, if you ask me."

"First I publicly grope you, almost stab our potential Judas, then, for the grand finale, I molest you in a stairwell! And I thought you behaved rudely with Timmie! You should demand an apology!"

I started laughing, taking off my jacket and putting it around her to cover the tear in her jeans.

"You didn't molest me, and I will never ask you to apologize for tonight. Any of it. I'm relieved, to be frank."

"Relieved?" She glanced at the area of my cock. "I guess that's one way to put it…."

"Not that." I laughed again. "Though it applies there as well. Do you know what you acted like tonight? Like a vampire. We're territorial, every last one of us, which is why I had such a harsh reaction when I saw Timmie gaze at you with those smitten-calf eyes. Your similar, decidedly hostile response with Francesca showed me…that you consider me to be yours. I have wondered what you felt for me, Kitten. Hoped you cared beyond mere rapport or physical attraction, and so while I assure you that you have nothing to fear from her, I was selfishly pleased to see how deep your emotions ran."

She stared at me in silence, seeming at war with herself as to how to respond. "I think we should get out of here," was what she settled on. "Before you have to green-eye anyone else out of reporting us to the police."

I smiled, a bit sadly this time. I had hoped that the scene upstairs, combined with her response to me in the stairwell, had made her realize her feelings for me. Evidently not. Fuck it all, I thought I had really made progress and was getting somewhere. It wasn't a nice feeling, to feel like I was just her walking sex toy. "It's all right, Kitten. I'm not demanding anything. You don't have to fret."

She took my hand. "Are you really mine?" she asked.

I squeezed her hand gently and replied the only way I could, which was honestly. "Of course I am."

She squeezed back, stronger. "I'm glad."


	36. Chapter 35

_A/N: Let's meet Danny, shall we?_

We'd been getting nowhere. Hennessy was still looking to restock his stable. Francesca had confirmed what Lola and Charlie had told us, and so far the only thing of note she'd been able to tell us was that she'd overheard a mysterious human partner referred to as "Your Honor." Could just be sarcasm, but combined with the tampered police records, we were thinking it was for real. I was thinking a judge, so we were working that angle, but we were still hunting down Switch. And, as we had no idea who Switch was, we figured a little bait placed temptingly out on a hook couldn't hurt.

So, during the day Kitten went to classes, and at night we went out to every sleazy bar we could find. It was at one of these that my happy little Kitten-world almost came crashing down.

I was towards the back of the bar, near the door for easy following access, but I kept my eyes on her and I could hear her as well. It was late and she'd fended off human after human, until one ordinary looking bloke came up behind her.

"Catherine? My God, Catherine, is that you?"

She spun in her chair, her face went pure white, and the G&T she'd been holding went crashing to the floor. I tensed, ready to spring forward, as she looked like she was about to faint, but waited to see how this played out. Only one person could cause that reaction in her, and he was _not_ going to enjoy meeting me.

Her one-nighter seemed agog at her appearance in her tight fitting silver dress, black gloves and black boots. I watched the shit look from her face to her cleavage and back as he said, "Wow, Catherine, you look…wow!"

Brilliant conversationalist, he was. I could almost see Kitten running through a list of options in her mind as to how to handle the situation, and I waited to see what she chose before I made my move.

She gave him a truly black stare and turned back to the bar, indicating he should leave. The shit didn't get the message.

"Hey, you've got to remember me. We met on the road and you helped me change my tire. And you can't forget I was the first person you ever—"

"Shut up, you idiot!" she snapped. And really, who could blame her? What woman wanted someone announcing to an entire bar that they were the one who took her virginity?

"See, you _do_ remember me," he went on, apparently not catching the 'idiot' part. "Gee, it's been…what, six years? More? I almost didn't recognize you. I know you didn't look like this before. Not that you weren't cute and all, but you kind of looked like a baby then. You're all grown up now."

He didn't appear to be anything special, much, to me, but then I was biased. Sandy brown hair cut medium short, blue eyes, medium height. Absolutely ordinary.

"Danny, for your own good, turn around and walk away," I heard her say, even as I made my way through the throngs of people towards them.

"But why? We should catch up. After all, it's been a long time." He plunked down on the stool next to her.

"There's nothing to catch up on. You came, you saw, you scored, you left. End of story."

"Oh, come on, Catherine, it wasn't all like that—"

"Well, _hallo_ there, mate. What have we here?" I reached them, appearing behind him with a vicious smile on my face.

"This person was just leaving," Kitten tried, probably hoping the shit would take the hint and leave, or that I wouldn't have put together who he was. Not gonna happen, as Kitten would say. I was in full on predator mode.

"Not yet, Kitten, we haven't been introduced. My name is Bones, and you are…?"

"Danny Milton. I'm an old friend of Catherine's."

I held out my hand for him to shake and didn't let go, even when the shit attempted to tug it free. Nice try.

"Hey, man, I don't want any trouble, I was just saying hello to Catherine and…uunnngghhhh."

"Don't say a word." My voice was so low it was barely audible, and my eyes blazed green under my lashes. I knew Kitten could feel the power leaking off of me. I tightened my grip, and I knew Kitten could hear it as well when the bones shattered in the shit's hand.

"Stop it," she whispered, standing up and reaching out to touch my face.

I didn't move under my fingers, only my hand kept contracting. The shit began crying, although silently.

"It isn't worth it. You're not changing anything that happened."

"He hurt you, Kitten," I replied, watching the tears roll down the shit's face without pity. "I'll kill him for it."

"Don't. It's over. If it wasn't for him using me, I'd have never gone for that first vampire. That means I wouldn't have met you. Things happen for a reason, don't you believe that?"

I didn't relax my hand, but I did look over at her.

She brushed her fingers, her long, elegant fingers, across my face. I loved her hands. "Please. Let him go."

I released him. The shit fell to the ground and promptly retched. Blood seeped from his hand where his bones had broken through his skin. "Bartender, he looks like he might need a cab," I said tersely to the man behind the counter, who hadn't noticed a bloomin' thing. "Poor bugger can't hold his drink."

I bent down as if to help the shit to his feet, and I spoke to him quietly, but in no less terrifying tones. "You say one more blasted word and the next thing I'll be crushing is your stones. Tonight's your lucky night, mate. You'd better thank your bleedin' stars she stopped me, or you and I would be having a party you wouldn't live long enough to forget."

The shit gulped, sobbing and clutching his hand to his chest, and I led Kitten out toward the door after throwing a fifty at the bartender. "Best be leaving, pet. We'll have to try it another night. This has attracted a bit too much attention."

"I told you to leave it alone." She followed me to the truck, peeling out as soon as we got in. "Dammit, Bones, that could have been avoided."

"I saw your face when he spoke to you. You went white as a ghost. Knew who it had to be, and I know how hurt you were by it." I spoke softly to her as well, but this time my tone was caressing, loving, tender.

"But what did smashing his hand accomplish? We won't know if Hennessey or Switch comes tonight. What if one of them do, and they nab someone? Danny isn't worth a woman's life because he slept with me and then dumped me!"

"I love you. You have no idea what you're worth to me." I could hear my voice vibrate with emotion.

Agitated, she pulled off the highway and faced me.

"Bones, I—I can't say the same, but you mean more to me than anyone else has. Ever. Isn't that worth something?"

I leaned over and took her face in my hands. I delicately traced her jaw as though it were fine crystal.

"It's worth something, but I'm still holding out to hear the other. Do you realize that tonight is the first time I've heard someone call you by your real name?"

"That's not my real name anymore."

"What's your full name? I already know it, of course, but I want to hear you say it."

"Catherine Kathleen Crawfield. But you can call me Cat." She said the last part with a smile, since I'd only ever spoken to her one way.

"I think I'll stay with Kitten." I smiled back, and some of the tension eased. "It's what you reminded me of when we met. An angry, defiant, brave little kitten. And every once in a while you're cuddly like one."

"Bones, I know you didn't want to walk away before at the bar, and if I know you, you're numbering Danny's days. But I don't want his death on my conscience. Promise me you'll never do it."

I looked at her, amazed. "You don't still have feelings for that wanker, do you?"

"Oh, I have feelings for him, all right. I'd like to put him in the ground myself, believe me. Still, it would be wrong. Promise me."

"Fine. I promise I won't kill him," I agreed easily. Her eyes narrowed.

"Promise me right here and now that you will also never cripple, maim, dismember, blind, torture, bleed, or otherwise inflict any injury on Danny Milton. _Or_ otherwise stand by while someone else does as you watch."

"Blimey, that's not fair!" I protested.

"Promise!"

I grunted. "Fine. Bloody hell. Didn't I teach you too well to cover all of your bases?"

"Yes, you did. We can't go back to the bar now. What do you want to do?"

I traced a finger across her lips. "You decide."

I could see a little twinge of mischief cross her face. She put the truck back into gear with a small smile on her lips. Whatever I was in for, it should be fun. We hadn't had much time for fun lately, so I just stretched back on the seat and waited.

After an hour, she pulled onto a gravel road. I gave her a sideways smile. "Taking a trip down memory lane, are we?"

"So you _do_ remember this place."

"Hard to forget," I snorted. "This is where you tried to kill me. You were so nervous, you kept blushing. Never had someone try to stake me who blushed so much."

She parked within view of the water and unfastened her seat belt. "You knocked the living daylights out of me that night. Want to try it again?"

A laugh escaped me. "You want me to hit you? Blimey, but you do like it rough."

"No. Let's try the other. Maybe you'll have better results. Want to shag?" She kept a straight face, but her lips twitched.

A green light began to appear in my eyes. "Still wearing your stakes? Going to make me rest in pieces?" I took off my jacket as I spoke, not worried in the slightest.

"Kiss me and find out."

I moved at vampire speed, pulling her to me, tilting her head back and covering her mouth with mine before she could blink.

"Not much room in here," I whispered after a long minute. "Want to go outside so you can stretch out?"

"Oh no. Right here. _Love_ to do it in a truck."

My former words rolled off her tongue and I laughed. My Kitten did always make me laugh. My eyes glowed pure emerald and when I smiled, my fangs protruded from my lips. "Let's find out."


	37. A Little Something Extra

A Little Something Extra…

_A/N: ParanormalMoonlight mentioned wanting to see this in her review, and instantly the idea sprang, fully developed, into my head. So you can thank her for this little something extra…_

_"Let's find out."_

In a second, I had her pulled under me, stretched out on the bench seat of the truck. My knees surrounded her waist, and her knees came up behind my back. Smiling, I ran my hands leisurely down her body, enjoying the feel of her tight silver dress. One hand crept under it, fingers trailing up her thigh, unhindered by underwear since she still followed my directive to not wear knickers while trying to lure in vampires. Brilliant idea, if I do say so myself.

My fingers found her sex, already wet and wanting. My thumb circled her nub while two long digits slid inside smoothly, stroking her from the inside while my other hand stroked her breast outside. She whimpered, whispering, "More."

I grinned and complied. In a flash, I had her on top of me, my flesh driving into her. Her dress I tore into shreds to get to her skin, and when I reached it, I feasted on it, tasting her everywhere. She arched her back, her long red tresses caressing my thighs, and began to moan. As I moved faster, deeper, her cries grew louder and she bent over me, mouth locked onto my throat to swallow the sounds.

I felt her blunt teeth bite into my skin, which gave way with a "pop," and my blood spilled inside her mouth. I never, ever broke her rule about biting her, even though I had craved her taste ever since that one drop the first time we made love. But I absolutely loved it when she bit me.

"Harder, Kitten," I ground out, holding her head to my throat. I felt her bite me again, more deeply this time, and then I yanked her head away to kiss her. The taste of my blood in her mouth aroused something deep and primal in me, and when I looked in her eyes, something feral met mine.

All of a sudden, something that had started out as a lighthearted trip down memory lane became something else entirely. I stared at her in the moonlight, her skin luminescent as a vampire's yet slightly human, completely naked as I'd yanked her boots off when I tore off her dress. The look she gave me was challenging and unabashed.

I stared at her for another moment, then shoved open the door of the truck, lifted her off my cock and said, "Run."

She stared at me for just a moment, met my eyes with complete understanding, then turned and ran. I gave her a few minutes head start, then kicked off the rest of my clothes and began to chase her.

We ran for a few miles, me coming up close behind her only to fall back and let her gain ground. Finally, I steered her towards the direction of the lake, which was where I wanted her to go all along. She reached the bank, looked over her shoulder at me… and dove in.

I followed straight behind her, my lack of needing to breathe giving me an edge over her. She soon surfaced and I stayed underwater. I could see her legs treading water, turning in all directions, looking for me. As still as I could, I slid through the water towards her. Just as she was about to sense me, I sprang.

I locked my arms around her waist, pulling her legs over my shoulders, and my tongue began a relentless assault on her tender flesh. Above me, I heard her scream in shock, then pleasure as I continued to feast on her. In and out, in and out, my tongue crept towards its goal, and when it came, I could feel it through her whole body.

Her legs, locked around my head, went totally rigid, as did the rest of her. Her arms came down to clutch my shoulders and her head went back as she let out a long, protracted wail. I kept up my assault until she relaxed, then I shot out of the water next to her.

She collapsed against me, spineless, breathless, but I wasn't done yet. Not nearly. I lifted her up, shifted her legs around my waist and thrust into her. She was still overly sensitive from her recent orgasm and she let out a short scream as I drove into her. Again, I worked myself in and out, and after a bit, she began to move against me, grinding her flesh onto mine in the most delicious way. Kitten may have been completely inexperienced when we met, but she was a quick study, and a natural. Here's hoping I was the only one she practiced on.

Sounds began to bubble up from her throat again, tiny moans and wails and she again went to use my throat to stifle them. This time, I leaned back and said, "There's no one here but us for miles, Kitten. Scream for me. Let me hear you. I _need_ to hear you."

Resting in the circle of my arms, she leaned back in the water, her hair flowing around her like a red halo, and began to moan and wail louder and louder. The louder and more frequent her sounds, the more it switched me on, and the faster I moved. The faster I moved, the louder she got. We got locked into this circle of sounds and movements until I felt her walls clench down on me again and she let out a long, sharp scream. I couldn't hold back during that, and came in pulsing waves inside her that I thought might never end. I groaned and clutched her up to me as I came, shuddering against her and wanting to close any distance between us.

She relaxed against me again, her head on my shoulder, sleepy now. I swam us into the shallow part of the water then walked us toward the truck. By the time we reached it, she had almost fallen asleep against me.

I jiggled her a bit to wake her. "Kitten, we have a problem."

"Mmmm?"

"We don't have any clothes." It was true. Her dress and bra had been obliterated in my attempt to get to her flesh, and mine had met a similar fate when I got out of the truck to chase her. Between us, we had my jacket to wear, and that was about it.

In response, she only giggled and went back to sleep.


	38. Chapter 37

_A/N: Sorry for the delays between posts, but I'm actually out of the country, and can't always manage to find the right times to write. I'm staying with a friend who has an infant, and a crying baby is NOT conducive to being creative. But I'm at a hotel tonight, so you get the "closet" scene…_

We'd spent two useless weeks hunting for any information we could get on Hennessey or Switch. Kitten had been dangled as bait at every seedy club in a fifty-mile radius of Columbus, but so far nothing had come of it except me having to deal with raging cases of jealousy as steady streams of human men hit on her. I knew, on a rational level, that there was no need to worry – that she saw all human men as mere clones of that pathetic one-nighter shit – but it was still hard to watch.

After a while, I could tell Kitten was getting restless and frustrated at our lack of progress. In a way, so was I. I wanted Hennessy found and stopped, done and dealt with, just as much as she did, but for very different reasons. I wanted to do it to show her that a vampire could do something _good_, and then I'd _really_ step up my game in getting her by my side – for good.

Every time I sensed her frustration, I reminded her I'd been chasing him for over a decade (and silently remind myself that I'd had to wait 220 years to find her, and find love). Age had shown me that patience was usually the best way to work – lull your enemy into a false sense of security then pounce when he least expected it – but she'd look at me with young, frustrated grey eyes that told me my words went in one ear and right out the other.

It was a Sunday, and we were at her apartment. She had studying to do, but planned on relaxing now, studying later. We weren't going out trolling, so both of us were nude (why put on clothes when we just kept taking them off each other whenever the –often- mood struck?). We were waiting for a pizza for her, so she had her dressing gown lying over the arm of the sofa.

A knock (a rather loud one) sounded at the door, and both of us looked at the clock. That was fast for a pizza, only 15 minutes. I started to politely get up to answer it, but she grabbed her robe and stopped me.

"Stay there. You're not eating it anyway," She grinned.

She opened her front door—and then slammed it shut with a cry. "Sweet Jesus!"

I jumped up, still nude but now armed with a knife. For some reason, the sight of that made her scream again even as there were more annoyed knocks on the door.

"Catherine, what is the matter with you? Open this door!"

"It's my mother!" she whispered fiercely, as if I hadn't figured that out. "Holy shit, you have to hide!" She literally began shoving me toward the bedroom, yelling, "I—I'll be right there, I'm not dressed!"

I went, but calmly. "Kitten, you still haven't told her? Blimey, what are you waiting for?"

"The Second Coming of Christ!" She snapped. "And not a moment sooner! Here, in the closet!"

The banging on the door was getting louder. "What is taking you so long?"

"I'll be right there!" Kitten hollered. I gave her a very aggravated look. She just whispered, "We'll talk about this later. Just stay here and don't make a sound, I'll get rid of her as fast as I can."

Not waiting for my reply, she slammed the closet door. I could hear her, rushing around the place, gathering up my things and shoving them under the bed.

"Catherine!" Now there was a kick to the door.

"Coming!" I heard her rush to the door and open it. "Mom, what a surprise!" she said in bright, false tones.

I heard her mum come into the apartment. "I drop by to say hello, and you slam the door in my face? What is wrong with you?"

"Migraine!" Kitten trumpeted before lowering her voice and taking on a pained tone. "Oh, Mom, I'm glad to see you, but it's a bad time."

"Look at this place. Catherine, where did you get the money to pay for all of this?"

Inside the closet, I held back my snort of laughter. The first time I saw Kitten's apartment, I threatened to kill her landlord for having the gall to charge her money for it. I didn't, but what I did do was furnish it, as she had just the bare bones of what she needed to get by – bed, bookcase, that was basically it.

So, "all of this" meant the couch I'd bought so we'd have something to sit on besides the floor, the TV so we could watch the news to look out for any telltale headlines, the computer for the same, and coffee table, end tables, appliances … she'd given up arguing by then.

"Credit cards," Kitten said instantly. "They'll give 'em to anybody."

Her mum made a disapproving noise. "Those things will get you in trouble."

Kitten made a choked noise. In the bedroom I made a silent, but similar one.

"Mom, it's great to see you, really, but…"

"Catherine…is that a new _bed_ as well?"

Kitten choked again, then seemed to give a sigh of relief. Really, did she think I was going to come out, introduce myself, flash my fangs and insist to be invited to Thanksgiving dinner? "It was on sale."

Her mum made a disbelieving noise, then seemed to check Kitten's temperature. "You don't feel hot."

"Believe me," Kitten said sincerely, "At any second, I could throw up." In the closet, if I still had the ability, I could too, but for very different reasons.

"Well," Her mum paused for a second then seemed to buy the whole migraine excuse. "I'll call next time. I thought we could go out to dinner, but … oh, do you want me to bring you in something?"

"No!" Kitten said a bit too strongly. She softened her tone a bit. "I mean, thanks, but I don't have an appetite. I'll call you tomorrow."

Sounding like she was at the door now, her mum sighed. "That headache is making you act very weird, Catherine." But she accepted the excuse and left.

I came into the living room silently, dressed now. Kitten was half sagged against the door, and actually had an ear pressed it, making sure her mum was gone. She sensed me and turned, giving a fake, uneven laugh that didn't even begin to resemble humor.

"Whew, that was close."

I simply stared at her, no anger in my expression. "I can't stand to see you do this to yourself."

She gave me a wary look. "Do what?"

"Continue to punish yourself for your father's sins," I replied calmly. "How long are you supposed to pay for them? How many vampires do you have to kill until you and your mum are squared? You're one of the bravest people I've ever met, yet you're scared to death of your own mum. Don't you realize? It's not me you're hiding in a closet—it's yourself."

"That's easy for you to say, your mother's dead!" She flounced onto the couch in a huff. "You don't have to worry if she'll hate you for who you're sleeping with, or if you'll ever see her again if you tell her the truth! What am I supposed to do? Risk my relationship with the only person in my life who's been there for me? She'll take one look at you, and all she'll see is fangs. She'll never forgive me, why can't you understand that?"

Her voice cracked in the last sentence and she buried her head in her hands. With everything in me, I wanted to go and put my arms around her, comfort her. But Kitten wasn't one for comforting, for one, and for two, in this situation, I knew I'd have to be cold, take a hard line. I didn't want to – God, how I wanted to just make this all right for her – but the only way this relationship would work was if she was able to stand up to her mum for herself and tell her about me. And that meant that, no matter how much I didn't want to, I'd have to leave her for a bit, let her decide for herself what she felt for me and if it was strong enough to stand up to her mum for. I hoped to God it was – this was the biggest gamble of my life, and I'd taken more than a few gambles, but never one with my heart – but the only person who could make that call was Kitten.

So, I hardened myself to do what was probably the hardest thing I'd ever done or would have to do. "You're right, my mum's dead. I'll never know what she would have thought of the man I've become. If she'd be proud…or despise me for the choices I've made. I will tell you this, though. If she were alive, I'd show her what I was. All of it. She wouldn't deserve any less, and quite frankly, neither would I. But this isn't about me. Look, I'm not insisting to meet your mum. All I'm saying is that sooner or later, you'll have to come to terms with yourself. You can't wish away the vampire in you, and you shouldn't keep atoning for it. You should figure out who you are and what you need, and then don't apologize for it. Not to me, to your mum, or to anyone."

I had reached the door before she realized what I was doing. "You're leaving? Are you—are you breaking up with me?"

Oh, God, the sound of her voice, so tiny and sad and bleak, broke my heart. I turned around. "No, Kitten. I'm just giving you a chance to think about things without me to distract you."

"But what about Hennessey?" She grabbed at straws.

"Francesca still doesn't have anything concrete, and we've struck out searching for him on our own. Won't hurt to give it a small rest. If anything does come up, I'll ring you. Promise." I gave her a last, long look before opening the door. "Goodbye."

I shut it, then strode down the steps to my bike. I saw the pizza deliveryman go to her door, and from the shadows where I was parked, I watched her face, ravaged with pain, as she numbly paid him. Then she shut the door, and as I drove away, I heard her start to cry.


	39. Chapter 38

_A/N: I apologize for the delay, but I've been traveling back to the States, moving back into a house I never thought I'd live in again (or at least for a year while I got my Masters in the UK) and I've had (and still don't have) no Internet access. I've decided to write anyway, to cheer me up a bit, and so I can post this whenever I'm somewhere with Internet access (McDonald's, actually). Not to fear, I have 2 more chapters already written and ready to be published. Again, thank you to EVERYONE who reads and reviews, they keep me going. Anyway, onto Bones…_

Four. Days. Four sodding days of no Kitten. I'd heard blasted little from Francesca, as well. All she could tell me was that our elusive human partner wasn't a judge or a police chief, but someone higher than that. She said she was still digging, and would ring back when she knew more.

I wish I could say my mind gave proper attention and gravitas to the situation with Hennessey, but in all honesty, the situation with Kitten was first and foremost in my mind. I'd taken a gamble leaving her there after her mum left, and waiting for her to make up her mind about us was driving me insane. I paced, I drank whiskey after whiskey (not that it did me any real good), and I brooded. And brooded. And brooded.

Once I gave in to temptation and drove past her apartment. She was on her way out, to classes no doubt from the backpack she carried, and the sight of her wrecked me. She looked paler than normal, her hair was up in a messy bun and looked like she had barely bothered to comb it, and she was in sweats and a t-shirt. She looked so wretched I almost outed myself and went to her, to end this standoff between us – because all we were doing was hurting each other needlessly anyway – when the next sight stopped me. And made me nearly incandescent with rage and jealousy. Oh, so _this_ was how she'd been spending her time away from me, eh? Lucifer's bouncing balls!

The lad from next door followed her out. I gripped the handlebars of my bike so hard, I felt the metal start to mold to my hands. But he merely went to his apartment next door while she got in her truck and drove off.

An outlet, that's what I needed. A good outlet. I went to the first bar I could find and found a drunken, belligerent man, compelled him with my gaze to follow me to the alley in the back, and beat the seven shades of shit out of him, leaving him barely alive. Then I went back to the cave to brood some more.

Gradually, the red began to clear from my gaze. I realized that if Kitten and this lad from next door had begun a romantic relationship, she wouldn't have looked as downtrodden as she did. She would have dressed smarter, done her hair up a bit, maybe put a bit of makeup on as she did for me, and she certainly wouldn't have looked so pale. She would've had a bit of color to her, color she had when she was around me. Color that rose in her cheeks whenever I stepped near her.

My mobile rang, shattering my thought process and the quiet of the cave. Really, how I got cell signal in here I'd never know. A quick glance at the caller ID told me it was Francesca, not Kitten, and trying not to be too disappointed, I answered. She was very agitated and said she wanted me to pull her out, as whatever Hennessey was involved with, it went too deep for her. I agreed, and we were just arranging a place to meet when she said, "Someone's coming" and the line went dead.

I was beyond frustrated. I couldn't call her back, obviously, since whoever had shown up might answer and realize it was me, so I was back to square one on the waiting game, only now on two fronts instead of one. The pacing resumed. I'd already decided that, if I hadn't heard from Kitten by the following night, I was going to go get her and bring her to the cave. I couldn't stand it if I had to wonder where she was, if she was all right.

The next night, my sanity hanging by a thread, I was gearing up to go get Kitten when my mobile rang again. I didn't bother glancing at the called ID this time, I just answered, "Francesca?" The silence on the other end of the line gave me pause, however, and I did glance at the ID, and it was Kitten calling. All at once, my heart leapt into my throat. I tried a few times to speak, but it took a moment before I could say, "Kitten, it's you. I'm already on my way over. Something's wrong."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Get dressed if you need to. I'm hanging up; I have to keep this line clear. I'll be there in five minutes."

I pulled into her parking lot with a squeal. The lad from next door was there – _again_, was he slow? – and he bolted from her apartment with a hasty, "Good night!" I took the stairs two at a time and when she opened the door – God, I'd missed her! – out of all the things I'd wanted to say to her, the first thing I _did_ say was, "I think Francesca's been caught."

"What happened?"

I began pacing in frustration. "She rang me two days ago, said she was getting closer to finding out who was pulling the legal strings for Hennessey. It wasn't a judge or a police chief, but someone higher up than that. She couldn't tell me more; she was still digging. Then 'round an hour ago she called me, and she was very agitated. Said she wanted me to pull her out, because what Hennessey was involved in went too deep. I told her I'd meet her tonight, and we were arranging a place when she said, 'Someone's coming,' and the bloody phone cut off. I haven't heard from her since."

"Do you know where she was?"

I know my eyes lit up and were shooting green sparks. "Of course not! If I did, I'd be on my way there!"

Kitten literally backed up at the anger in my voice. I hadn't seen her afraid of me in some time and I hated to see it again. I made a constricted noise and caught her in one stride, pulling her next to me, my nose in her (now clean and combed) hair.

"I'm sorry, Kitten. This has twisted me into nastiness. I can't imagine what would have scared her so much that she'd try to bolt, but if Hennessey caught her spying on him, it's nothing compared to what he'll do to her as punishment."

"It's all right. Don't apologize. Look, let's assume for a minute that it's not as bad as it could be and start from there. If she had to get out of somewhere in a hurry and she couldn't contact you yet, where might she go? Is there any place she'd feel safe? You know her. Try to think like she would."

My fingers flexed on her shoulders. "She might go to Bite," I mused. "It's the only place in this area where there's no violence allowed on the premises. It's worth a shot. Will you come with me?"

She gave me a look. "You think you can stop me?"

I almost smiled, but I was too worried for it to really take. "Right now, luv, I'm glad I can't."

The club where we'd had our first date and Kitten was drugged bore no sign of Francesca. Trixie was at the door, and I pulled her aside and gave her my mobile number in case she saw Francesca later. Next, we tried the hotel where we'd met Francesca a few weeks ago. Nothing. I rang Charles, who was still in New York, but he hadn't heard from her, either. As the hours dragged on with no word, I got more and more grim. It was clear this wasn't going to have a happy ending.

By dawn, we'd checked the hotel and Bite again, just in case, but with no more luck.

My mobile hadn't rung once. I started heading back in the direction of Kitten's apartment

when I suddenly slowed the bike, pulling over to the shoulder of the road.

A few miles ahead on the highway were the flashing red and blue lights of multiple

police cars. The little amount of traffic there was on the road this early was being routed into the single far lane. The other three were blocked off with flares that went all the way into the nearby trees.

"There must be an accident, we should take another way," Kitten began before trailing off. "This place looks familiar…."

My jaw was set as I turned around. "It should. This is where Hennessey dragged you away to bleed you. Well, not right here. Up where the coppers are."

"Bones…"

"I can hear them," I said flatly. "They've found a body."

My hands were knotted into fists on the handlebars again, and Kitten nudged me very softly.

"It might not be her. Keep going."

I revved up the bike and pulled back onto the highway. I tersely told her not to take her helmet off no matter what. Just in case anyone was watching, I wanted her features hidden.

It took us over half an hour to reach the area where the flashing red and blue lights were the thickest. All the passing cars were rubber necking to get a glimpse of what had taken them so long to get around, so the coppers didn't notice my stare. Behind me, Kitten's arms tightened.

Long black hair spiraled out from behind the copper bent over the body taking photographs. His bulk concealed most of it, but that hair was distinctive. And the arm partially visible was skeletalized.


	40. Chapter 39

_A/N: I've decided to post all 3 chapters I've written now since I've got internet access (swiped at McDonald's)... I'd have it set up at my house by now, but my Dad can't find the power cables to my TV that he was holding for me while I was gone, and it doesn't make sense to have the cable guy come out to set up Internet unless he sets everything up at the same time. Arg. It's amazing how addicted you can get to technology._

I drove in a weaving, erratic way. I took back roads, gravel roads and finally no roads until we reached the woods bordering the cave, just in case anyone _had_ been watching, had recognized me, and had tried to follow us. If they had, they would've gotten lost many, many times over. Then I carried the bike one-handed to the cave to cut the noise, Kitten walking beside me.

When we were well inside the cave, she spoke. "I'm sorry. It's not adequate, I know, but I am so sorry Hennessey killed her."

I gave her a small, bitter smile. "He didn't. Bloke would have done many, many things to her, but killing her straightaway isn't one of them. Her body was dumped within an hour or two at most after I spoke with her. Hennessey would have kept her alive for days at least. Until he'd found out every detail of what she'd relayed to me. There isn't one of Hennessey's sods who would have gone behind his back and done it themselves, either."

Kitten looked confused. "What are you saying? Then who killed her?"

My mouth twisted. "Francesca did. It's the only logical explanation. She must have been trapped, saw there was no escape, so she killed herself. It would only have taken a second for her to run a silver blade through her heart, and then there's not much they could do about it afterwards. Hennessey's leaving her where I nearly finished him was just his way of saying he knew who she betrayed him to."

Kitten looked dumbfounded at that statement, but there was more I had to say, and I was pretty damned firm about it. "Your part is done in this, Kitten. Finished."

"Bones," she said gently. "I know you're upset—"

"Bollocks."

I seized her by the shoulders, and my voice dropped until it was low and resonating. "I don't care how pissed you are or what you threaten me with. End our relationship, don't speak to me again, whatever you fancy, but I will _not_ continue to dangle you out as bait to the kind of people Francesca killed herself rather than be at the mercy of! I couldn't bear it if it was you I was waiting for a call from that never came, or if it was your body I had to see stretched out on the sodding ground…."

I spun around quickly, not wanting her to see me about to break down and cry. I meant every single word I said. I couldn't bear it if it was her I lost for her good, permanently, forever. I could deal with it if she ended our relationship – although that would come near to breaking me – but if Kitten were dead, it would snap my sanity. I'd want to die myself, partly for getting her more deeply into this world but mostly because I wouldn't want to live in a world without her in it. I couldn't bear it; I'd go mad with grief, and I'd do the same as Francesca – end myself with silver through the heart.

"Hey." She tugged softly at the back of my shirt. I still hadn't completely composed myself, so I didn't turn around. I felt her lean against my back. "You're not going to lose me. Francesca was on her own, she didn't have you shadowing her. It's not your fault, but you owe it to her to keep after Hennessey. She gave it all she had, for her own reasons, maybe, but that doesn't change what she did. You're not giving up and neither am I. We've got to have faith. Hennessey's going to be scared, wondering what she told you. Scared enough to get sloppy and make some mistakes. You've hunted him for over eleven years; you've never been this close before! There is no turning back, and I'm not running away because I'm afraid. We're going to get him. We're going to stand over him on the ground, and every greedy bastard on his team, too, and then they'll know they were taken down by you … and your little Grim Reaper, who hasn't met a vampire she didn't try to kill first."

I made a choked noise at her reference to what I'd called her in frustration that morning with Lola. Then I turned around and pulled her into my arms, crushing her against me. "You're my Red Reaper, and I've missed you terribly."

"Bones, when I called you before—before I found out about Francesca…it was to tell you that I'd finally figured out who I was and what I needed. You told me that once I did, I shouldn't apologize to anyone for it. So I'm not going to."

I drew back, filled with caution. Had she decided she couldn't come clean to her mum about us? "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'm a moody, insecure, narrow-minded, jealous, borderline-homicidal bitch, and I want you to promise me that you're okay with that, because it's who I am and you're what I need. I missed you every minute this week and I don't want to spend another day without you. If my mother disowns me for being with a vampire, then that's her decision, but I've made mine, and I won't apologize or back down from it."

I didn't say anything for a long moment. Had I just dreamed that up, stress causing me to hallucinate? "Would you mind repeating that?" I said at last, the strain easing on my face, replaced by more caution. "I'm afraid I might have lost my wits altogether and just hallucinated what I've longed to hear."

She kissed me instead, unable to stop touching me. Her hands raced around, feeling my shoulders, back and arms, all she was able to reach as I had her in a crushing embrace. My hands raced over her as well, stroking down her back and pulling her hips so hard against mine it would be difficult to even put a sheet of paper between us.

I kissed her back, so deeply she was soon out of breath. She tore her mouth away – _come back, come back, I've missed you so much_ - gulping in air. Unable to keep my mouth from her skin, I slid my mouth to her neck, tonguing her pulse and lightly sucking on it. The smell of her lust increased – _yes_ - and she yanked at her collar to give me better access.

I drew her shirt over her head and threw it behind me, my mouth losing contact with her neck only in the second it took me to do that. My fangs were fully extended with desire, and they grazed her neck as I nuzzled her. I never, ever broke her skin, no matter how passionate things got. I was so careful to stay within the boundaries she'd set for me, whereas she'd drawn my blood in the throes of passion more times than I could count – which I _loved_ – but I never brought up the double standard.

I was holding back my natural, vampiric urge to bite as I teased her throat the way I knew she liked it. Her pulse, so close, right under my fangs. I wanted to feel her blood flow through my veins like I'd never wanted any blood before. I ached for it, as much as I ached for her body. I began to slide my mouth lower to her breasts, but she pulled me back to her neck.

"Don't stop," she whispered.

I felt as much as heard that she wasn't talking about foreplay, and I stiffened.

"What are you doing, Kitten?"

"Overcoming my former prejudice. You're a vampire. You drink blood. I've drunk yours and now I want you to have mine."

I stared at her for a long moment, and then shook my head. "No. You don't really want that." She might accept most of me, but she didn't accept all of me. She didn't accept that I was, at my most base level, a _vampire_, and I needed blood to survive. I might only drink whiskeys in front of her, but she'd shown that night at Bite, when she saw me feeding, her true revulsion.

"Your fangs don't scare me," she breathed. "And neither do you. I want my blood inside you, Bones. I want to know it's running through your veins…."

"You can't tempt me like this," I muttered, turning away with my fists clenched.

She moved in front of me. "I'm not tempting you. I'm _insisting_ you drink from me. Come on. Tear down this last wall between us."

"You have nothing to prove to me," I argued, weakening. I could hear her blood pumping, her heartbeat rise in anticipation. I could smell how she wanted this, and it broke through my last barrier of argument.

My hunger rose. The air around us charged, and my eyes glowed a brighter green than she'd ever seen them.

She put her arms around her, brushing her lips against my throat. "I'm not afraid."

"But I am. I'm very afraid you'll regret it afterwards." Even as I said it, my arms went around her. She rubbed against me, and I hissed at the friction of our skin. Her teeth caught my earlobe, biting it firmly, and I shuddered.

"I want this. Show me I shouldn't have waited so long."

My hand brushed through her hair, smoothing it aside and down her back, and my mouth dipped to her neck. She gasped at feeling my tongue circling her pulse in a predatory way. _Where? Here? No. Here? No. Ah, Kitten, here._ I fastened my mouth over it, sucking, drawing the artery closer to surface and pressing on it with my teeth. Her heart was thundering now. Its throb was vibrating against my lips.

"Kitten," I moaned into her skin. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes."

My fangs sank into her throat. I could feel her brace for pain, but it didn't come. Instead, the hallucinogen in my fangs released, giving her a feeling of warmth and pleasure. I gave a long, deep suction that froze her with surprise instead.

Oh God, no blood had ever tasted so good before. So sharp and sweet, a bit tangy, completely unique like my Kitten. From what I could tell, she was enjoying it as well. She curled her arms around my neck, pulling me closer.

"Bones…" She drew my name out the same way she did when I pleasured her, and I smiled against her throat.

I drank deeper, picking her up when her knees buckled. She went limp against me, until it seemed like she'd melted in my arms. Lost in unexpected rapture.

Everything narrowed, until it the only things that existed were the thumping of her heart, her steady panting breaths, and the constant flow of blood connecting every part of her into me. I felt like she willed it into me, wanting me to drown in her.

Yes. Yes!

I don't know if she said it, or if I said it against her throat, or if I merely thought it. The lines between us had blurred until we were one person, her blood my blood, her body so tightly against mine as I held her we felt like one being. Her blood seemed to boil erotically, and I tightened my arms and forced myself to stop as she lost consciousness in my arms.


	41. Chapter 40

_A/N: Awww, Cat says the L word!_

When her eyes opened, she was burrowed inside the blankets. My arms were wrapped around her from behind, trying to gain warmth from her body as much as be close to her.

"Is it dark out?" she asked, feeling her neck. I'd closed the holes, so she only felt smooth skin.

"Yes, it's dark now."

She turned to face me, gasping when my cold feet touched hers. "You're freezing!"

"You took all the covers again."

She glanced down and realized she was cocooned in the entire comforter; I only had a few scraps of the blanket as I'd spooned around her.

She unwrapped herself and threw half the blanket over me, shivering as my chilled flesh touched her bare skin. "You undressed me while I was asleep? You didn't take advantage, did you?" Didn't we go over this before we even started dating? Still, she was minus quite a lot of blood, so I let the comment slide.

"No, I took precautions," I replied, searching her eyes. I was so tense, I felt like I was made of glass and a single blow would have shattered me. "I stripped you and hid your clothes so if you woke up angry about what happened, you wouldn't be able to run out without talking to me first."

I was definitely a man who learned from experience.

"I'm not angry. I wanted it, and it was—incredible. I didn't know it would be that way."

"I'm so glad to hear you say that," I whispered, relaxing. "I love you, Kitten. I can't describe how much."

Tears sprang to her eyes. I saw them and asked, "What's wrong?"

"You won't stop until you have all of me, will you? My body, my blood, my trust…and still you want more."

I knew what she meant and my reply was immediate. "I want your heart the most. Above all else. You're exactly right, I won't stop until I have it."

Tears began to slide down her cheeks. "You have it already. So now you can stop."

My whole body froze. Surely I hadn't finally gotten what I'd set out to win from the first day I'd met her, had I? Did I need to go get the ring Enrique had finally finished? A beautiful red diamond for my beautiful Red Reaper. "You mean that?"

My eyes couldn't look anywhere but in hers, seeking the truth. She nodded.

"Say it. I need to hear the words. Tell me."

She licked her lips and cleared her throat. It took three times, but finally she was able to voice what I'd longed to hear for months.

"I love you, Bones."

"Again." I started to smile, feeling Joy. Pure Joy. If I died at this moment, I'd die a perfectly happy man, because the woman of my dreams loved me, and I'd been granted the gift of Joy after centuries of emptiness.

"I love you."

I kissed her forehead, cheeks, eyelids, and chin with feather-soft brushes. "Once more." The request was muffled by my mouth on hers, and she breathed the words into me, making me feel like I was breathing again.

"I love you."

I gave her a head-spinning kiss, pausing only long enough to whisper onto her lips, "It was well worth the wait."


	42. Another Something Extra

_A/N: Again, my faithful reader/reviewer, ParanormalMoonlight, requested that I take the "L word" scene a bit further than our dear Ms. Frost did… and so I have. You have her to thank for this. Although this might not have been quite what she was expecting…_

"_It was well worth the wait."_

The words were spoken into her mouth, her breath coming in pants back into mine. I had everything I never knew I wanted – but what I had wanted _so much_ since meeting her – here in my bed, in my arms, and I didn't intend to let her go.

Her declaration to me before insisting I bite her told me that she still hadn't told her mum about us yet. I knew that was a battle we were going to have to overcome, but now, I felt it was one we could master because we would present a united front.

Poor Kitten. She'd spent so much of her life alone: shunned by her mother almost since birth for being half vampire, shunned by the small-minded small town she grew up in for not having a father, shunned by other children for being different. My non-beating heart constricted when I thought of this sad, lonely girl roaming alone at night, friendless and confused about what was happening to her body – and being told by her mother to hide those changes.

But now, lying with her in the circle of my arms once again, I determined to myself that she would never have to fight another battle alone again, that she would never be lonely again, and that I would do whatever it took to make her understand that, at last, someone accepted _all_ of her and loved her.

As I spoke those words into her mouth, the tension, stress, grief over Francesca and just complete Joy bubbled up in me and came out in a way I least expected it. Yes, I'd finally been able to bite Kitten and it had been incredible. Yes, I was as insatiable as I always was for her, particularly after not seeing her for almost a week. Yes, I was anxious to have what I believe humans these days call "makeup sex," but something else happened.

I rolled on top of her and began tickling her.

She squealed with delight – even if a bit too loudly for my sensitive ears – and began wriggling and writhing, trying to get away.

"Bones! Stop!" she pleaded.

"No. You're mine and we're well due a bit of fun," I responded, laughing.

She tried squirming underneath me to try to get out from under me, but I used all my weight to hold her, continuing my tickle assault. Truth be told, all the wriggling and squirming was rubbing me in all the right places, but I was determined that we just have fun for once. So far she'd only seen the negative side of the vampire world; I wanted her to see that we could have plain old fun as well.

Recognizing she wasn't going to throw me off, Kitten clearly decided the best defense was a good offense. Suddenly it was her hands running all over me, trying to find my ticklish spot.

"Keep dreaming, pet, you won't find it. And keep squirming, you're switching me on," I grinned down at her.

Suddenly I felt her wrap her legs around me and then – oh, bloody hell, no! – her toes were running up and down the soles of my feet. Didn't she listen too well when I taught her that her legs were valuable fighting tools? I began doing some squirming and wriggling of my own, but she'd locked her arms and legs around me, and as long as she kept tickling me with her toes, my finely honed defense mechanisms were off-kilter and she was able to keep hold of me. Gamely I tried to keep up my own tickle defense, but it was sorely lacking when compared to what it had been just moments earlier.

"Aha!" Kitten crowed triumphantly, having discovered my secret spot.

I gave up any pretense at trying to tickle her and rolled us so she was on top. She looked down at me… and suddenly, we were laughing helplessly together. Her hair fell over both of us like a red veil as she hunched over my chest, laughing.

Finally, both of us wiping away tears, pink and clear, she settled down and laid her head on my chest. I began stroking her hair, lazily, idly.

"Bones?"

"Yes, luv?"

"Will it always be this way between us? Able to have fun in spite of horrible circumstances?"

"I can't promise you anything but this, Kitten: I will try. For you, every single day, I will try to make it happy somehow."


	43. And Yet More

_A/N: And yet still more… this was requested in a review, so here it is! See, reviews are like candy, ask nicely and you'll get it! (Even if it IS weird writing lemons in McDonalds!)  
_

* * *

"Wake up, luv."

She shifted, threw her arm over her eyes and made vague protesting noises.

"Wake up. I have something for you."

That got her attention. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Why is it still dark? How long did you let me sleep?"

"'Round ten hours. You slept the day away, it's a new night."

"Oh shit! Bones, where are my clothes? I have to get home! My mom's probably freaking out!"

I sat on the bed and made soothing noises. "Not to worry, luv. You've got your own place now, remember?"

She flopped back on the bed, relieved. "Oh, thank God. I totally forgot about that for a minute. But why'd you let me sleep so long?"

"You obviously needed it, pet. You were dead to the world, pun intended."

"Oh. Well, I haven't been sleeping so well this past week." She gave me a shy look through her lashes.

"I know, pet, neither have I. But a few hours sleeping with you in my arms made me sleep better than I have all week. I slept an extra few, myself. But I knew I had to get up to get your surprise."

"Oh yeah, my surprise. Where is it?"

"I pulled a garment bag out from under the bed as she swung her legs around and sat up.

"A dress? Are we going hunting tonight?"

"No, tonight is ours." I unzipped the bag to reveal a green satin dress with a rounded, scooped neckline that would give just a hint of her cleavage, fitted through the bodice and fell to a full skirt. It had spaghetti straps and a deep V-line in the back. It had intermittently placed crystals so it would sparkle and shine.

I handed her the dress. "Can't wear a bra with it," she said. "Surprise, surprise," she snickered.

"Look in the bottom of the bag," I said. "Got you some fancy knickers to wear with it. Can't say I didn't cover you there, another pun intended."

"Aren't you just the funny one tonight?"

"I am indeed in a fantastic mood, Kitten, and I think you know why," I responded, getting a lovely blush from her. "But back to your surprise."

She pulled out a little bag that said "La Perla" and while she admired the contents, I pulled a shoebox out from under the bed as well.

She gaped at the name on the box. "Jimmy Choos? Are you _insane_? I may not know much about fashion but even I know that's one of the most expensive shoe designers in the world!"

I opened the box and, pulling back the delicate tissue paper, remove a shoe made entirely of crystals. "They match the dress. And don't rail at me about prices, Kitten; you're worth the world to me, and worth hundreds of pairs of designer shoes. It's only money; I'd give you the world if you'd let me."

"Oh, Bones," she whispered, and threw herself at me over the shoebox and dress. I answered her embrace with a strong clasp, then sat her back and said, "Get ready, pet, we're going out."

When we pulled up to Bite, she gave me an arch look and asked, "You're not planning on feeding tonight, are you?"

"No, I'm quite full, thank you." I gave her a heated look back. She blushed a lovely crimson and the smell of her arousal began to fill her truck, making it difficult for me to drive.

I'd already called ahead and asked my mate, Verses, to have the DJ play a lot of slow numbers tonight. As we went inside, a slow song was on. I merely gave Kitten a smile as I took her hand and led her to the bar.

"Gin and tonic and a whiskey, neat," I asked the bartender. In short order we got our drinks and Kitten kept giving me shy looks – which were driving me crazy – and once we finished with our first round, I got up and tugged her to the dance floor, where another slow number was playing.

I spun her so her back was to my front, sliding my hands down her side to her waist, enjoying the smooth feel of the satin. Kitten molded herself to me, reaching one arm up to play in my hair and the other to slide down my back until it rested on the side of my hip, where she kept giving strong squeezes to my ass.

A fast number came on and we didn't change our position, just began to speed up, grinding against each other instead of our previous slow sway. Then, I suddenly spun her so we were front to front, my erection pressed against her lower stomach, my eyes green and my teeth nipping at her lips.

She gave as good as she got, though. She swayed her hips tightly against mine, running both hands down my back to settle on my ass to keep us swaying together. Her eyes were green as well, and she returned my nips by bending down to lightly nip my nipples through my shirt.

I groaned, and, if possible, pulled her even closer to me. I put one hand on the back of her neck and the other in her hair. She'd put it up in a classy twist with some tendrils hanging loose, but I removed the clip, stuck it in my shirt pocket and fisted my other hand in her long locks.

I gently tugged her head up to face me and gave her a scorching kiss. When she finally pulled back to breathe, she said, "I need to go to the ladies' room. Meet you back at the bar?"

I nodded, finding speech a bit difficult at the moment, and spun on my heel to stride off the dance floor towards the bar. I found two stools and repeated our order to Logan, the bartender. Suddenly I heard a voice behind me.

"Wanna dance, sugar? I saw you out there and you can really move. You seem to have lost your partner, want a new one?"

A brunette slide onto the bar stool I'd been holding for Kitten.

"No thanks, not interested."

She still didn't seem to get the point, and slid her hands up my arms. "C'mon, honey, I'll make it worth your while."

Logan and I exchanged glances as if to say, 'This is _not_ going to end well.'

Suddenly the brunette was grabbed by the arm and pulled so hard, she landed on the floor.

"Taken, honey." Kitten stood behind her, rage on her face. "_Mine_."

The brunette scrambled to her feet as I chuckled at Kitten's reaction. "Do you always let the little woman speak for you?"

I just grinned and nodded. "Sorry luv, _hers_."

The brunette started to stalk off, muttering under her breath, "Pussy whipped," not knowing that both Kitten and I could hear her.

"More like dick whipped," Kitten shot back. At that, I started laughing in earnest. I pulled her forward until she stood between the V of my legs and wrapped my arms around her.

She whispered, "Tongue whipped, too. Can you even_ be_ tongue whipped? Is there such a thing?"

"Kitten, let's just say we're both whipped, in every way, and leave it at that." I whispered back.

She put her hands around my neck and pulled herself more snuggly into me, "Can we leave now?"

"I was just about to suggest the same thing."

* * *

We fairly raced back to the truck. I drove, since I drive faster, and if we got pulled over, I could just green eye the copper out of the ticket. We didn't get pulled over, though, and I pulled the truck up as far as it would go to the cave.

I raced around to Kitten's side and, to her excited squeal, threw her over my shoulder and ran the rest of the way to the cave carrying her. She used the opportunity to good use though, either fondling my ass or spanking it. Both aroused me unbearably.

Once we got into the bedroom of the cave, though, and I set her down, she began to unbutton my shirt with obvious impatience. I grabbed her hands and stopped her, though. She looked at me with confusion.

"Kitten, we've fucked in almost every imaginable position. I've had you, over and over, and I still want more. I doubt that will ever change. But tonight, I want to do something different. I want to do something I've never done before, with anyone. I want to make love. I want to make love with the full knowledge that I love you and you love me. I've loved you slowly before, but that was one-sided. This will be different. This will be mutual, consensual, and, if I have my way, beyond sensual. Do you want that?"

Her breaths had started coming in little pants during my speech, her cheeks pinkened, and the scent of her lust began to swirl all around me.

"Yes. Yes, I want that. I want everything you have to give. I want you, Bones. I want everything you have to show me…" she breathed.

"This is new to me, too, luv. I hope I live up to your expectations."

She nodded and began to tremble in anticipation. "I know you will." Her hands went back to my shirt and began to unbutton again, but slowly this time. When she had it unbuttoned down to my waist, she unbuckled my belt then pulled my shirt free and finished unbuttoning it. When she was done, she pushed it off my shoulders completely.

She gave me a sly smile and unzipped my trousers. When I sprang free, she slid down my body, her hands sliding down my legs, falling to her knees. When her hot mouth slid around to encompass me, my knees buckled somewhat before I regained control of myself. She slid her mouth around me, slowly drawing me in then letting me slide out. She ran her tongue around the head, then along my underside as she sucked, hard. It felt incredible, but when she peeped up at me through her lashes, it was my undoing.

"Kitten, enough," I ground out through gritted teeth and pulled her off me then back to her feet, ignoring her pout. I slowly spun her so she faced away from me and slid the zipper of her dress down slowly. I gently ran my hands along her shoulders so the whole garment fell to the side. As it fell, I stepped out of my trousers and kicked off my shoes and socks.

Then I turned her back to face me, and she stood in front of me in her delicate lace panties and crystal heels. I pushed her back until she fell back on the bed, and indicated that she should lift her hips so I could slide the beautiful knickers off her.

"I think we'll keep these on," I said, kissing her ankle and caressing her shoe. I was still standing, so her leg was raised high in the air. It slowly lowered as I fell to my knees in front of her, my lips sliding up her skin to the apex of her sex.

"Tongue whipped, hmmm?" I whispered, blowing the breath into her sex. "We'll see if I live up to my reputation", I said and slowly licked her from bottom to top. Above me, she gasped and slid further down the bed to push her sex closer to me. Chuckling, I took two fingers – God, she was already _so wet!_ – and slid them into her, finding her sweet spot and rubbing it intensely while my tongue swirled around her nub.

She fairly shot up off the bed. "Bones!"

Chuckling, I took my free hand and gently pushed her back onto the bed. I removed my fingers and replaced them with my tongue, swirling and stabbing. I could she was close – her legs tightened, and her breathing changed. Suddenly, her legs went rigid and her back arched off the bed.

"Bones!" she screamed, and continued screaming my name like a litany in short pants for a long moment. I pressed the palm of my hand on her clit while she rode out her orgasm, prolonging the pleasure. Finally, she collapsed back on the bed and her breathing began to slow back to normal.

I crawled up the bed to kiss her damp forehead and push the tangle of her hair back. "Still tongue whipped?" I asked, grinning.

"Oh yeah," she answered, grinning like a fool.

"Let's see if you're still dick whipped, too, then," I whispered. I slid over her body and wrapped one leg around my hip, then took the other one and tucked it under my arm, pressing it against her chest, then slowly slid into her. At this angle, I was able to go very, very deep into her, and she gasped at the feeling.

"Bones…" she drew out, eyes closed, head thrown back at the sensation.

"Look at me, Kitten! Open your eyes and look at me. I need to see you," I pleaded.

With what looked like great effort, she raised her head and looked at me. We got lost in each other's green gaze, and the intensity blew through my control. When I could feel she was close again, I said, "Come for me, Kitten. Come with me."

She looked straight into my eyes and it was like gazing into her soul as she fell apart all around me. It was more than I could bear, and as soon as I felt her massage me from the inside, I fell apart myself, looking into her eyes. I let go of her legs and clutched her to me.

I slid down her body until my head rested on her breast, her stroking my back softly. Gradually she regained control of her breathing, and she asked, "Whipped?"

Without raising my head from her breast I whispered, "Whipped," and we drifted off to sleep like that, wrapped around each other.


	44. Chapter 43

_A/N: Now we get into the difficult part, that's almost all action and almost all Cat. I'll try to put in as much Bones thought as possible, but please keep in mind now writing it from his perspective gets REALLY tough…_

Early one morning shortly after Francesca's death – and Kitten's confession of love – I heard someone heading towards the mouth of the cave. I was expecting Kitten in mid-afternoon, so I was puzzled when I saw her running towards me, face contorted with pain and anger. Bloody hell. Whatever it was, I hoped I wasn't to blame, not that I could think of anything I'd done to warrant this…

"Kitten, didn't expect you so early—" I stopped when she threw her arms around me and burst into tears. "What is it?"

I picked her up, moving swiftly through the lower entrance to deposit her on the couch. She took a moment to get ahold of herself enough to explain.

"Danny. Danny Milton! Damn him, he managed to fuck me again, and this time he kept his clothes on! I just got a visit from two detectives. Thanks to that schmuck giving them my name and telling them I left a club with a murderer, guess who's their prime suspect in an unsolved crime involving a young woman and a strange mummified corpse? I think you're going to need to drink them and change their minds, or I'll never graduate college. God, they think I'm protecting an occult killer, you wouldn't believe some of their theories—"

Panic flashed across my face and I jumped up from the couch. "Kitten. Get on the phone and ring your mum. Right now. Tell her to get your grandparents and leave. Bring them here, all of them."

"Are you insane?" She stood also, eyes wide with incomprehension. "My mother would run shrieking out of this cave to begin with, she's afraid of the dark, and I can just see my grandparents bunkering down here. The police aren't worth—"

"I don't give a rot about the police." My words bit through the air. "Hennessey's looking for anything he can find on me or, failing that, on someone close to me. You know he's got connections with the police, so if they have your name now as a suspect in a murder where there's a strange shriveled corpse, then he would also. You're not anonymous anymore. You've been linked to a dead vampire, and all he needs to do is take one look at a photo of you to know you're the same girl who almost got him killed, so get on the phone and get your family out of that house."

With trembling hands she took the proffered phone and dialed. I could hear it ring… It rang, one time… two… three… four…five…six… I watched compassionately as tears sprang to her eyes.

"There's no answer. I spoke to her this morning, before the detectives came. She said someone was at the door…."

Off we went through the trees on my bike. I think for once Kitten was glad I had the thing. It was the only type of vehicle that could navigate through this territory at such speeds. If anyone tried to pull us over, though, she would look guilty as hell of anything they accused her of. Over her tight black spandex from before, now she had added crisscrossed boots with stakes inside, silver throwing knives lashed to her upper arms and thighs, and two guns tucked in a belt filled with silver bullets. Not that we _would_ have stopped for anyone. Somebody could just try to catch us.

She kept trying her family on the mobile, cursing and praying when there was still no answer. Normally it took an hour and a half to get to the house from the cave. I made it there in less than thirty minutes. We pulled right up to the front and she was the first one off, running up the steps of the porch and through the open door. Once there, it looked like her brain just stopped. Just could not compute what it was seeing, what that meant, so it seemed to slow down and stop.

The red liquid smeared on the ground caused her to slide forward and then fall to the floor with the momentum of her panicked strides. I came inside with more caution but just as swiftly, and I dragged her to her feet.

"Hennessey and his men could still be nearby. You're no use to anyone if you break now!"

I know my voice was harsh, but it penetrated through the paralyzed freeze of her mind, which went blank upon the sight of all that blood. Pale amber beams of remaining light illuminated the sightless eyes of my grandfather sprawled on the kitchen floor. His throat had been torn out.

Shaking me off, Kitten unsheathed her knives and gripped them, ready to fling them at any undead thing that moved. There was a trail of blood leading up the steps, and crimson handprints left grisly signs for us to follow. I took a deep whiff of the air and pushed her back against the landing.

"Listen to me. I only smell them faintly, so I think Hennessey and whoever was with him aren't close. But you keep those knives ready, and you unleash them at anything that flinches. Stay here."

"No." She spoke through clenched teeth. "I'm going up there."

"Kitten, don't. Let me go instead. You keep watch."

I watched her take her grief and force it down, down inside her, where she'd cope with it later, after all of this was over. I watched her face become a hard mask of pain, and inside a tiny part of me exploded at the sight, because no matter what she might say about knowing Danny-the-one-nighter-shit before me, I knew it was because of _me_, because of her association _with_ me, that brought her face to fangs with Hennessey, and that _was_ my fault. Which made the deaths of her grandparents on my hands as well.

When she spoke, her tone had never been more menacing. "Get out of my way." I stepped back but followed closely behind her. The door to her bedroom was kicked in. It hung by only a hinge. Her gran was face down on the floor, her hands frozen into claws. It looked as though she'd dragged herself while dying, up the steps to get to Kitten's room. I knelt beside her and inhaled near the gouges around her neck, and then picked up a bloody pillow from my bed and held it to my face.

"What are you doing?"

"I can smell them. There were four of them, including Hennessey. I smell your mum on this pillow. They took her. And there's not enough of her blood here for her to be dead."

Relief caused Kitten to nearly sag on her feet, while I nosed around the room like a canine, following the scent back down the stairs. I headed back to the kitchen and gave her Gramps a similar sniffing. Upstairs I could hear Kitten turning her grandmother over and closing her eyes.

"Get down here, Kitten. Someone's coming."

Abruptly she darted back down the stairs, avoiding the slick blood that lined them. I had the note crumpled in my hand and I propelled her out the front door as I shoved it inside my belt. A car screeched down the road about a mile away and Kitten grabbed two extra knives until each hand held four.

"Is it them?"

I stood next to her, legs apart, and narrowed my eyes.

"No, they're human. I can hear their heartbeats. Let's go."

"Wait!" She looked around despairingly, clothes and hands streaked with her family's blood. "How will we find out where they've taken my mother? We're not leaving until we do find out, I don't care who's coming!"

I jumped onto the bike and spun it around, waving her over with a jerk of my head. "They left a note. It was in your grandfather's shirt, I have it. Come on, Kitten, they're here."

The car slammed on its breaks about a hundred feet away and out came two police detectives with their guns drawn. "Hold it right there! Don't you fucking move!"

I was off the motorcycle and in front of her before she could blink. I was going to shield her from the bullets that could only injure me for a short time but would do far worse damage to her.

"Get on the bike, Kitten," I murmured too low for them to hear. "I'll get on behind you. We have to go. They would have called for backup."

"Hands in the air! Drop your weapons!" Detective One approached with slow steps. Obligingly I stretched out my hands in compliance, buying time.

Both detectives advanced, seeing me as the primary threat. They foolishly ignored the old adage to never underestimate the power of a woman. Kitten stepped out from behind me with her hands in the air, palms facing in. When One took another step forward she flung the first knife. It skewered him straight through the wrist and his gun fell to the ground. Before Two could react she let loose the other knife, and he, too, collapsed screaming to the dirt, clutching his bleeding forearm. It made the next two knives easier to find their marks, and in a blink both of their hands were paralyzed with silver blades protruding from each wrist.

I arched a brow at her but said nothing, and climbed behind me on the bike as we sped off. Their shouts behind us faded with the distance.


	45. Chapter 44

_A/N: Sorry about the wait. I've been having some medical issues and haven't much felt like writing. Hope I put enough Bones thought in here for you._

Even though Kitten was in front, I drove. We took unpaved roads and went through trees to avoid detection. I went so fast, normally she'd be screaming she was going to throw up, but now she just screamed to go faster.

I finally drove us to a highway and stopped. I covered the bike with branches and gave Kitten a directive. "Stay here. Won't be a moment."

I walked onto the shoulder of the road and let my eyes go green. I fixed my glare on an approaching car, then stepped out into the center of the road as the car stopped just shy of me. I jerked my head to the shoulder of the road, where it rolled to a stop.

I waited for it to come to a full stop then opened the driver's door. The driver sat with a dazed expression on his face. I pulled him out and walked him over to where Kitten waited. My mouth clamped onto the man's neck, and the driver let out a small whimper. I released him after a few moments, wiping my sleeve across my lips.

"You're tired," I intoned. "You're going to lie down here and go to sleep. When you wake up you won't fret about your car. You left it at home, and you went for a walk. You want to walk home, but only after you've rested. And you are very, very weary."

The driver curled in a semicircle on the ground, rested his head on his arms and was asleep instantly.

"We needed a car they weren't looking for," I explained as Kitten followed me to the new vehicle. When we were back on the highway, she turned to me.

"Show me the note."

I gave a little shake of my head and pulled the note out of my belt. "You won't understand it. They knew I would."

Carefully she unfurled the paper that held the only clue to her mum's whereabouts: Recompense. Twice past day's death.

"Does it mean she's still alive?"

"Oh, that's what it's supposed to mean. If you trust them."

"Do you trust them in this? Is there some kind of…vampire code not to lie about hostages?"

I gave her a compassionate look. "No, Kitten. But Hennessey might figure he has a use for her. Your mother is still a lovely woman, and you know what he does with lovely women."

Fury snarled across her features. "When are we supposed to meet them? I assume they've designated a time? What do they expect?"

I held up a hand to hold off her spate of questions. "Let me find a place to stop off first and then we'll talk. Don't want the police chasing us and making a bad situation worse."

Tersely she nodded and folded her arms across her chest. I drove until I saw a Motel 6.

"Wait here for a moment," I said by way of answering the puzzled look she threw me. Ten minutes or so later, I came out and pulled around to the back of the lodging. We were in a downtrodden neighborhood, and I saw Kitten glancing around at the predatory looks that flicked our way from some of the people loitering in the area.

"Come on, we're this way."

I ignored everyone else around me and took her hand when she got out of the car. I led her to Room 326. The interior was about as shabby as the exterior, but all we needed was a place off the road where we could talk without being overheard.

"Why are we here?"

"Because no one here will notice anything much beyond a drive-by shooting. Also, you can wash the blood off."

She barely glanced at her red-caked hands. "Do we have time for that?"

I nodded. "We have hours. They want to meet at two. That's what the 'twice past day's death' part means. Midnight is the death of every day, and they chose two hours past it. Guess they were giving you plenty of time to hear about your grandparents and contact me."

"How considerate," she snarled. "Now tell me what they're offering, if anything. Me for her? Does he want the bait who almost got him killed?"

I led her to the edge of the bed and sat her down on it. Kitten's whole body was stiff with rage and grief. I squatted in front of her and took her bloodstained hands. I'd never seen her like this – not even in the beginning, when she wanted to kill every vampire she saw, me included. It broke my heart to know that I was responsible for this: her rage, her grief, her fear, everything, right down to her being covered in her family's blood. Never in a million years did I ever think that leading her into training with me would come to this. Her face was so hardened with rage and grief, she looked years older than her actual age.

There was no way, now, that I could give her the ring that Enrique had finally finished and which rested in a black box in my jeans pocket. Not only was the timing inappropriate, there was every chance she'd throw it back in my face.

"You know Hennessey doesn't want you, Kitten—he wants me. He's given no thought to you beyond how he could use you. You realize, luv, they would be making your mother spill any details on you they could. With luck, they won't be asking the right questions. I didn't believe you myself when you told me what you were, it was only seeing your eyes that convinced me. Even if your mum is coerced into telling them, chances are they'll think she's raving and pay it little heed. They would have no doubt broken in to your apartment by now looking for you. Those detectives probably saved your life by coming by this morning and scaring you into leaving. They'll find your weapons, but they could easily assume they were mine and I kept them there for convenience. They want me, and I'll go to them. But they won't be expecting you. This is our only advantage."

"Bones, you don't have to do this. You can tell me where she is and I'll go. As you said, they won't be expecting me."

I dropped my head onto her lap a moment before replying, my voice full of pain. "How can you even suggest that? First of all, this is my fault for getting you into this, because I should have stuck to my instincts and never allowed it. Then, I should have just killed Danny that night like I intended to. At the very least if I'd have stolen his mind about how his hand got injured, he wouldn't have given your name to the police. But I was angry, and wanted him to know who did it and why. Of course I'm going. Even Hennessey, who hasn't the slightest idea that I love you, knows I will. Doesn't matter if she's already dead and there's nothing to be gained from it but vengeance, I'll still go, and" – I paused and my voice deepened, hardened – "I swear to you, I shall rip off every hand that touched her or your grandparents. That much at least I can do for you. The only thing that frightens me is the thought that you'll see me as a monster again, because it was vampires who did this."

I stared at her with pink tinged eyes. She looked back at me with clear streaks running down her cheeks. She slid down until she sat on the floor and held me. How she could still bear to touch me, hold me, after everything vampires had done, was a mystery to me. But I held her back, as tightly as I dared, for she was the only thing that was constant and solid. Everything else around us was crumbling.

"I will never stop loving you. No one can change that. No matter what happens later, I'll still love you," she said, and my shattered heart mended a bit and soared.

For a long while, we just held each other. Life was too short to waste even moments of it.

Finally, she pulled back. "Bones. Make love to me. I need to feel you inside me."

I pulled back until I could see into her eyes as I stripped the shirt over my head. Hers followed suit and was thrown to the ground. I undid the belt around her waist, untied the knives and guns, and tugged off her boots with their stake accompaniments. The spandex around her legs was stiff from dried blood, but I pushed rage about that to the back of my mind for now.

"I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. This isn't goodbye, Kitten. I didn't survive over two hundred years to find you only to lose you within five months. I want you, but I'm not saying goodbye to you, because we will get through this."

I traced my hands over her with such delicacy, it was as if she was made of glass. My mouth followed everywhere my hands did.

"I love you," I moaned, or maybe she said it. I couldn't tell the difference anymore. The lines had dissolved between us.


	46. An Un-Romantic Romantic Interlude

_A/N: ask and ye shall receive… sorry it's taken a while, but my internet has been down again, and I have never felt less like writing a love scene in my life. But here goes…_

I eased Kitten from the floor onto the horrible, plastic-y duvet. Better there than the slightly sticky carpet. As I peeled off her clothes, each item was a stab in my heart – _this is _your_ fault, _your_ fault_, it seemed to scream. I know that she didn't blame me for being covered in her grandparents' blood, but _I did_. The most horrifying part, for me, was having to deny my vampiric urge to lick at the blood. Kitten, naked in my arms and covered in blood was pretty much my Number 1 fantasy, but not like this, not when it was her family's blood.

So, focus on the task at hand. She wanted me to make love to her, and I always wanted her, no matter the situation. I pulled back enough of the duvet to lay her down on the scratchy motel sheets. Even in a crappy Motel 6, she looked fantastic laid out on any bed.

I lay down next to her, propped up on one arm, and began to kiss her as my other hand gently ran up and down her body. I cupped her breast and she arched her back, pushing it further into my hand. I began to tease her nipple with my fingers, rolling it around between my thumb and forefinger to elongate it.

She gasped, and pushed my head down in the direction of her breast. I laved at her nipple, teasing it with my fangs. I began worrying the other nipple, while my other hand moved south and began to tease her there. _Oh God, she was so wet already_. It took every ounce of my self-control to not just bury myself inside her right away, but I wanted to drag this out as long as I could.

My palm rubbed at the apex of her thighs while my fingers delved into her flesh, rubbing upward until I found that spot that made her scream out my name. That had to be my favorite sound in the whole world, her screaming my name in the throes of passion. I waited while she rode out the aftershocks, leaving little kisses all over her skin, making sure to avoid the blood covered areas.

When she came back down to Earth, she grasped my head and pulled upward until she had me in a hard, demanding kiss.

"Bones," she rasped, "Now. I need you inside me _now_."

I quickly grasped her and flipped us over so she was astride me.

"Well, Kitten," I gestured down at myself, "I'm all yours."

Even though she was still a little self conscious about being on top, she quickly took control. Using one hand on my chest to steady herself, she used the other to guide me to where I needed to be. Slowly, _ohmygodsofuckingslowlyfeelss obloodyfantastic_, she lowered herself onto me. I bucked my hips up at the last, filling her completely.

She threw her head back and her long red tresses teased my thighs, just more sensory overload. She grabbed my hands for balance and began to move, slowly up and down, teasing me. This went on for what seemed like an interminable amount of time, until I could take it no more.

"Faster, Kitten. Harder."

She began to really move. She leaned down over me so her clit was rubbing my pubic bone, and began to moan. I took one of her breasts in my mouth again and she moaned louder.

I flipped us again so I was on top. "More, Kitten? You tell me when to stop."

"God, yes," she moaned. "Fuck me, Bones. Hard, fast, and deep." There went her original directive of making love to her right out the window, but I was more than happy with the new one. I unleashed my restraint and went as hard and as fast as I knew she could take it. I pulled her legs up over my shoulders so I could go even deeper into her.

I didn't just want to fuck her or make love to her, and I certainly wasn't saying goodbye to her. I wanted to _own_ her, like she owned me. I wanted to possess her body, make her feel things no one else could. I wanted to take her to places she didn't know existed, higher and higher, until she came, screaming and pulsing all around me.

Finally, I had found my Nirvana, my heaven, my home, my Alpha and Omega, and it was with this woman. Inside her, next to her at her side, fighting for her or with her at my side, this was what I had been searching for over two centuries and it all began and ended with a twenty two year old girl.

As she screamed and fell apart around me, I felt myself relax, let go, and fall apart as well. I knew we still had a fight ahead of us, but with my Kitten at my side, I felt stronger than ever.


	47. Chapter 47

I knew Kitten was a strong, capable fighter, but who knew exactly what we would be facing at Hennessey's? He could have hundreds of thousand-year-old vampires there, and she needed to be as strong as I could make her to even have a chance at surviving.

So I raised the issue of her taking my blood – not just small amounts to heal injuries, but a large amount to make her significantly stronger and faster. On the plus side, it would help to heal any injuries she got as well. On the purely selfish side, I loved it when she bit me. Win-win-win.

First I had to fill up. I found a few guys thinking they had found an easy mark, when what they had really found was a single punch that sent the sprawling, one into the next. I drank from each of them until I felt as if I was about to burst. Then I went back to Kitten, who had been watching from the motel.

"You are going to wash your mouth out. If you kiss me, I don't want a face full of hepatitis."

Not that she could catch any human diseases with her lineage, but I obediently swished water around my mouth. "Don't fret, luv. With your lineage, you couldn't catch it if you tried. No germs or viruses can survive in vampire blood. You've never been sick a day in your life, were you?"

"Actually…no. But germs aside, it's gross."

"Come here." I patted my lap, and she sat on it, Santa-style. She curled her arms around me.

"You'll tell me when to stop?" she asked anxiously.

"Promise."

She calmed down, but asked, "Tell me again why we aren't doing your wrist?"

I tightened my arms around her. "Because then I couldn't hold you. Quit stalling. You know what to do."

She pressed her mouth to my neck where my jugular would be. I could tell she was a bit nauseous when the blood filled her mouth, but she made herself swallow. She bit me again when the wound started to close, and I held the back of her head and pressed her closer.

"Harder." The word was clipped, and I let out a small gasp.

She attempted to pull away, but I held her and said, "More."

I could tell when she began to have too much. She began to slide her teeth into my skin more sensuously, rather than the blunt bites of before, and she bit me harder. She yanked my head back, biting me again. Her legs curled around my waist as she pressed against me, yanking my head back farther still.

"Enough." I wrenched her mouth away and she fought me as she began to go into a blood craze. With a snarl, she tried to snap her teeth back onto my throat, but I twisted her arms behind her and threw myself on top of her. My weight and strength pinned her down.

"Just relax. Breathe. Ride it out, Kitten, it will pass."

She struggled, but finally relaxed. "How do you stand it?"

"You don't, not for the first few days. You kill anything near you to fill the need when it hits. After that, you learn to control it. What you had was only a taste. By next week, the effects will be out of your system. You'll be back to yourself."

"I can smell you," she said in wonder. "I smell myself on your skin. I smell everything. My God, there are so many scents in this room…."

I knew this was a completely new experience for her. Enhanced sense of smell was the only vampire trait her loser of a father hadn't passed down, so she was in a completely new league here. All her other senses were merely heightened, but this one was almost completely new.

"I didn't realize how different things were for you. How can you ever walk by a public bathroom and not pass out?"

I smiled and gave her a light kiss. "Willpower, pet."

"Is this what it feels like to be a real vampire?" _Does she really want to know? Does she like it? Could she want it one day? Maybe let me turn her? God, please let her want to let me turn her, I couldn't stand to watch her die…_

"You've just had about two pints of aged nosferatu. Fermented for two hundred and forty years. You're like a hitchhiker on my power, so in a way, yes, it is. Are you telling me you like it?" _Please, please like it… I want you with me forever…_

I read the emotions passing across her face and knew I wouldn't get a response. Instead, I kissed her again with more substance, and she groaned in surprise. My taste was even stronger to her.

When I ended the kiss, I gave her an unblinking stare. "When it is time, no matter what we find, I want you to unleash everything you have in you. Hold nothing back. You've got strength and I want you to use all of it. Give in to the rage and let it feed you. Kill anything, vampire or human, that stands in your way from retrieving your mum. Remember, if they're there and they're not in chains, then they're Hennessey's and they're your enemy." _Please, if there's a God, let her survive tonight. I couldn't stand to lose her…_

"I'm ready."

I sprang off the bed gracefully. With my blood coursing in her veins, she almost matched me in fluidity. I

cracked my knuckles and rolled my head around my shoulders, and the emerald light pinpointing in my dark brown eyes was echoed by hers.

"Then let's go kill them all."


	48. Chapter 48

_A/N: So, here it is. This is the chapter I've been dreading writing (and honestly, I usually skip reading). I'm going to do it a bit differently, since there's just SO much of Cat fighting. I thought long and hard about how to write it, without just re-writing it, and what I settled on is Bones kind of going out of body for a bit. Hope you like how I've done it, and that I've managed to do it in an understandable way. I also put one, tiny, Southern Vampire Mysteries mention in here – see if you can spot it._

Kitten was completely covered in stakes and knives when we went to meet Hennessey's men at the spot where we'd danced and he'd dumped Francesca. I didn't have any weapons on me, since they'd just be confiscated, but then again, I didn't really need any. I was a Master vampire. If I couldn't go into a fight and gain myself some silver, I didn't deserve to have fangs.

Our meeting point was the other part of the cryptic note. If we met there, they'd know we wouldn't have any backup or were being followed. We didn't worry about the obvious cache of weapons Kitten wore – Hennessey and his men had no idea she could use them, and most likely they would only be amused at her artillery of silver.

My plan was simpe—let them take me wherever they were holding Kitten's mum, and when we were double-crossed and they didn't release her, Kitten was to come in with force.

"But what if they stake you on sight? God, Bones, you can't risk it."

I gave her a jaded look – had she not been listening whenever I talked about Hennessey? "Not Hennessey. He'll want to drag it out for weeks. I told you, he doesn't do quick mercy kills. Especially on a chap who's already caused him a world of trouble. No, he'll want to hear me beg. There will be time."

"Bones." She squeezed my hand and stared at me, seemingly unable to say anything else, but her eyes said it all for her.

I squeezed back and gave her a smile. "Hold that thought, Kitten. I intend to collect on it."

When we were close, I leaned in to whisper to her. "Let them smell your fear, it will lull them. Don't be strong until you have to be."

A bevy of four large SUVs waited in the dark along the shoulder of the road, their lights off. We came to a halt, and instantly were surrounded by six vampires.

One came to the window. "So, you came after all."

I lowered the glass and glanced at him. "Hallo, Vincent. Fancy seeing you here." I sounded as bored as if I was watching American football on the telly.

Vincent smiled. "Call me Switch. You surprise me, bringing her with you," Switch continued.

"She insisted on coming. Wanted to see her mum, couldn't sway her from it." Again, I sounded bland.

Switch looked Kitten over, and she let anxiety leak from her pores. His smiled widened – _wanker, __**mine**_ – letting his fangs out.

"Nice family you have, Catherine. Sorry about your grandparents. I know it's rude to eat and run, but I was short on time."

I could tell it was taking everything in her, but Kitten held back her rage and didn't let her eyes blaze forth.

"Where's my mother?" She didn't fake a cool tone; hers was full of hatred. Well, they'd expect that.

"We have her." Another vampire approached and informed Switch we hadn't been followed, and he turned back to us. "Well, let's be on our way. I trust you won't lag behind?"

"Don't fret over me," I replied evenly.

Switch merely responded with a grunt and sauntered off to his vehicle.

"I'm afraid," Kitten said as we pulled away, going through our previously rehearsed script. Even five car lengths away they could hear us.

"Just stay in the car and don't come out. When your mum gets in, you leave straightaway, remember?"

"Yes. I'll do it." On cue she began to cry, making little whimpering sounds.

The drive lasted forty minutes until at last we pulled up to a ramshackle house ten miles off the interstate. It was secluded, with a long driveway. No eyes or ears to see or hear anything for miles – typical for a vampire hidey hole. I put the car in park but left the engine still running.

Our eyes met for only an instant before my door was yanked open. "End of the road. Hennessey says we'll send her out when you come in." Switch was back at the door again, a little malicious smile wreathing his face.

I raised a brow at him. "Don't think so, mate. Bring her to the door so I can see her and then I'll come. If not, you and I dance right now." I quit faking bored and my eyes went green. My aura sparked, letting them know I meant business.

Even though the car was blocked from behind by the other vehicles and we were surrounded, Switch still looked uneasy.

"You can hear her heartbeat in there. She's alive," he defensively countered.

I gave a short humorless laugh. "I hear seven heartbeats in there, and who's to say any of them are hers? What's to hide? Is this a bargain or not?"

Switch glared at me, then, with a jerk of his head, one of the other vamps scurried inside. "Look now."

Kitten gasped. In the window lit by low lighting, her mum's face was shoved into view. A hand was wrapped around her throat, holding her against the chest of her captor. Blood seeped from her head and her blouse was red from where more of it had stained.

"There. Your proof. Satisfied?"

I nodded once and stepped out of the car. Immediately six vampires encircled me. I could hear Kitten slide across into the driver's seat and locked the door.

Switch smirked at her through the glass. "Wait there. We'll bring her out and then you can leave."

The front door closed behind me and her mum was wrenched away from the window. Kitten was left in our car, blocked on both sides and the rear by the SUVs.

Suddenly Hennessey's voice boomed out. "Well, look who's come to join the party! Be careful what you wish for, Bones. You've wanted to find out who was involved with me for years, so take a good look around. Except for one, here we all are."

Sending my senses outward, I heard Kitten pick up the cell phone and dial the coppers. A woman's voice answered. "Franklin County Sheriff 's Department, is this an emergency?"

"Yes," she said. "This is Catherine Crawfield. I'm off of Interstate 71 and 323, just a few miles from Bethel Road in a house at the end of a dead-end street. Earlier I speared Detectives Mansfield and Black with silver knives through the wrists. Come and get me."

Switch heard her as well and he flew out towards the car. I heard her hang up, then throw the car back into gear. She hit the gas and from the front window, I could see Switch dodge being run over by jumping onto the hood. Kitten stabbed him in the neck after he punched through the windshield to try to grab her.

I threw myself sideways, startling my captors, away from the front window of the house. There was a spectacular explosion of wood and brick as the vehicle smashed through the it. The screech of metal and shattering glass was momentarily deafened me. I fought on autopilot, years of finely honed fighting skills coming to hand as I kept one eye on Kitten.

Watching her fight was a thing of beauty – a deadly ballet. She flung knife after knife at anything that moved, rolling to avoid counterattacks, lashing out instead of hunching to cradle a wound as I'd taught her. When she ran out of knives, she went back to the dead, plucking them out only to fling them again.

Mindlessly, I went through thrust, twist, turn as I watched her. I may have created many, many vampires- some of them Masters- but by far she was my greatest creation. She was the best Master I'd ever taught to fight.

Her mum was shoved into a corner, hands and feet tied together. Her wide, disbelieving eyes followed Kitten as well. I could feel the hate pouring off Kitten, and I knew she was letting it feed her as I'd instructed. It came from her not only in the form of fighting, but in snarls and growls. Her mum looked – and most likely was – completely and utterly shocked to see her daughter like this. Yes, she knew Kitten had been out killing vampires for years, but nothing could prepare a mother to see her daughter like this.

Someone had been in the process of chaining me when Kitten drove through the window, and, again mindlessly, I used those irons to swing out, wrap around necks, and give merciless jerks of the links until the vampire's head snapped off and I whirled onto the next one.

One vampire had the presence of mind to go for Kitten's mum. She launched herself airborne, practically flying across the room to land on his back. Again, I watched her thrust, twist and turn just as I was. He never got to lay his hands on her mum.

Kitten took one of her throwing knives and slit the rope that bound her mum. "Get outside now, go!"

I continued to fight on, my attention mostly on Kitten, making sure she didn't sustain any wounds I needed to heal. I watched her, for the first time, experience the furious joy of twisting someone's head off. Brutal, yes, but thrilling. Then she threw it like a bowling ball across the room to beam the back of a vamp closing in on me.

Sirens blared in the distance, coming closer. _Finally_. Through the crumbling wall of the home's exterior I saw the flash of red and blue lights, lots of them. The coppers were sending a small battalion down on us. The vampires left standing saw them also and began to scatter. We'd hoped for this - they were so much more convenient to kill when they faced away from us. More silver found flesh when they sprang through the remnants of the house.

"Police! Drop your…!" The voice on the bullhorn abruptly choked off when their spotlight lit upon the scene. Only about six vampires remained and three of them were pierced with multiple blades. Shots began to ring out from the officers' guns as they fired wildly at everything that moved, not knowing what in the world they were shooting at. This caused the surviving vamps to turn on the police. I watched as Kitten stayed down, bullets being much more harmful to her.

Suddenly I heard Kitten's snarling voice. "Hennessey! I'm coming for you!"

I felt the house shake, and, still fighting, saw Hennessey go for Kitten's neck again, but she held him off. His teeth landed in her collarbone instead. Rage began to fill me and I began to fight my way to her, dodging bullets. Hennessey shook his head like a shark, opening the wound wider, while Kitten had one arm uselessly trapped underneath her. She kicked him brutally, but he didn't let go. Finally, she used her free arm to stab him repeatedly in the back, twisting and turning until the jaws snapping at her throat lost its menace, became slack, and he became literally and figuratively dead weight.

Kitten whipped her head up just in time to see Switch disappearing into the trees. He'd gotten through the police line and was running for his freedom. There were too many bullets flying around for her to chase him herself.

"Bones!" she shrieked. "Switch is getting away! He's going for the trees!"

Almost absently, I punched through the neck of the vampire closest to me, my hand proceeding out the other side. Four bullets strafed me in quick succession, but I barely glanced at the wounds.

I was wracked with indecision. If I went for Switch I'd have to leave Kitten behind, and I loathed the thought of that. Then the image of Kitten's grandmother staring sightlessly up at me flashed in my head, and my decision was made.

In a blink, I was gone.


	49. Chapter 49

I chased Vincent/Slash for hours. That wanker ran at full speed all the way to Indiana. Several times during the run I thought about stopping and running back to Kitten, but then I remembered her family and that I'd promised to bring down each and every person who'd harmed them, and that gave me the extra push I needed to move closer and closer to Switch. When I finally reached him, I rammed my knife so hard in his heart, my hand came out the other side. Then I made good on my promise to her and ripped off each of his hands.

I was exhausted, but I knew the fight wasn't over. Kitten was still fighting on the human side of things, and if there was any way to help her, I would. But first, I had to refill. I found a mall, sweet talked a teenage girl into the shadows with me, and left her with a lower iron count and a memory of just meeting and talking with a cute bloke. Then I took to the air.

When I made it back to Ohio, I landed near enough to the house to see that it was a complete wreckage. The coppers were still there, and I could hear them trying to make sense of all these aged corpses. I also heard them talking about the girl they'd arrested.

I could smell Kitten's scent, and, flying low enough to keep it yet high enough to not be seen, traced it to the governor's mansion. Inside, I smelled blood, some of it human and some of it vampire – and most importantly, some of it Kitten's. I could've followed her scent on my own, but I overheard some humans inside mention which hospital she'd been taken to.

Bollocks. If she'd been taken to hospital, she must've been fairly badly injured. The rational part of my brain told me that she would've healed faster than a human on her own, and extremely fast with all the blood she'd drunk from me the night before, but the vampire side of my brain simply went completely red with rage that she'd been harmed badly enough to be taken to hospital at all.

Once I got there it took me a minute, but I got ahold of myself enough to scan around the hospital to see where she was. It wasn't hard to figure out. One entire floor smelled of Kitten, her mum, and the antiseptic-y smell of hospital staff, as well as the metallic smell of guards. I could hear what must've been her doctors talking about her near-miraculous healing rate and had myself a small smile.

I figured Kitten was under arrest and heavily guarded, and not likely to go anywhere soon. It was close to dawn, so I found someone else to sip from, and a place to spend the day safely to rest and make my plans for getting Kitten and her mum out. For what I had in mind, I'd need to be at my strongest, just after dark.

Not getting her out immediately was the biggest mistake of my life.


	50. Chapter 50

_A/N" Special thanks to Anni, who may have left the longest review in the history of , but certainly the longest I've ever received out of my 23 stories! Reviews are like crack for writers, and as I've shown in this story, if you request it, Santa Hearttorn just might bring it! (that totally won't make sense to anyone who isn't reading this story in December) We're getting down to the wire here, to the end… but for those of you who want to know what happens when Bones finds her gone, it will be in the beginning of my next story, which covers book 2. I already have those chapters written, so it's just a matter of me getting this book wrapped up!_

I knew when they were getting ready to move Kitten and her mum by the flurry of activity on her floor. Then they cleared a path down to the parking garage. Subtle, that. Anyone watching could've figured out what was going on, and not just a vampire.

I'd known what I would probably need to do to get them out, so I refilled ahead of time – I drank until I was stuffed as a tick. Then I simply dropped down from my vantage point nearby, waited to see which direction they took her, and shot ahead of them.

It was simple, really. I just stepped out in the road and stopped the car. Oh, I could've stopped it using mind control, but I wanted to leave chaos in our wake so the coppers had no idea which way to look for her.

Well, I say it was simple. Technically, it was. I let the car plow into me and it went upending into the air. I did my best to look unaffected, but inside I was screaming, _bollocksfuckwankshitarseboll ocksbollocksBOLLOCKS that hurt!_ Behind Kitten's car, other cop cars went careening around to avoid hitting hers – some still went plowing into the rear of hers, some went into ditches, etc. Quite funny to watch really – well, it would be if I wasn't in excruciating pain.

However, it was time for action, not whimpering in pain, doubled over on the concrete like I wanted. I raced around to the now resettled back on Earth car, ripped off the front door and flung it at the car behind us so they couldn't shoot. I gave her a cheeky grin and said, "Hallo, Kitten!" Her mum started wailing as I ripped off Kitten's door and gave it similar treatment. I gave Kitten a once-over to make sure she wasn't hurt, then grabbed her mum as she tried to scurry out her side.

"Not so fast, Mum. We're in a bit of a hurry."

A bloke in the front seat moaned and I casually swatted him in the head. Then Kitten piped up.

"Don't kill him, Bones! They weren't going to hurt me!"

"Oh—right, then. Let's just send them on their way nicely." I yanked him clear from his seat. I took a sip from his neck to rejuvenate from being a walking brick wall and tossed him fifty feet in the air. He landed in the grass by the shoulder of the road. The driver attempted to crawl away, but I grasped him and gave him the same treatment.

"Get out of the car, luv," I directed, and Kitten sprang from the ruined remains of the vehicle. I was still holding her mum by the arm. She was crying and cursing me at the same time.

"They're going to kill you, they know what you are! Catherine's—" Her words were cut off when Kitten suddenly punched her right in the jaw. She collapsed without another word.

A bullet flew by us. Kitten dropped to the ground, but I just gave an irritated glance in its direction and then grasped the floorboards of the car.

The coppers from the cars in front of us had taken cover behind one of their overturned vehicles, and they were firing at us. I gave a wolfish grin as I lifted the car off the ground. I spun in a semicircle for maximum velocity, and then the twisted hunk of machinery went sailing through the air, landing dead-on the makeshift barricade of the agents' vehicle, which made a terrific boom as it exploded when it landed.

The highway became nothing sheer pandemonium. Traffic on the opposite side of the road piled up as disbelieving onlookers stopped driving and gaped at the carnage to their left. Brakes were squealing as accident after accident happened as a result of my little handiwork. But there was no time to delay. I grabbed Kitten's hand, threw her mum over my shoulder and we raced into the trees out of sight.

I'd planned ahead and had a car waiting for us about five miles ahead from the wreckage, where the lanes were clear, a new Volvo SUV. I dumped her mum in the backseat none too gently, pausing only to clap a piece of duct tape over her mouth before driving off.

"Glad you were the one that socked her, luv. It saved me the trouble. You don't get your meanness from your father—you get it from her. She bit me." _The slag._

"How did you do that? _How_ did you stop the car? If a vampire can do that, why didn't Switch prevent me from bashing into the house last night?" Kitten was almost babbling.

I snorted. "That pup? He couldn't stop a toddler on a tricycle. He was only 'round sixty, luv, in undead years. You have to be an old Master vamp like me to pull such a trick without regretting it dearly afterwards. Believe me, it hurt like blazes. That's why I took a nip from your two blokes before chucking them off. Who were they, anyhow? They weren't police."

She stammered a bit. "Um, they were from some branch of government, they didn't say which. Weren't real chatty, you know? I think they were taking me to a special jail or something because of Oliver."

I shot her a look. "You should have waited for me. You could have gotten killed."

"I couldn't wait!" she protested. "One of Oliver's dirty cops tried to shoot me, and he was supposed to plant a bomb in the hospital where they were taking my mother! Oliver was the one, Bones. He admitted it, practically bragged about how Hennessey was 'cleaning up' his state for him. Like all those people were nothing but garbage. God, if I'd killed him ten times, it still wouldn't be enough."

"What makes you think those blokes who were taking you away weren't more of his men?"

"They weren't. Besides, you hardly treated them like you were giving them the benefit of the doubt. You dropped a car on four of them."

"Oh, don't fret." I replied blandly. "They jumped free before the explosion. And if they were too thick not to, then they deserved to die for their stupidity."

"Whose car is this?" she suddenly asked.

I gave her a sideways glance. "Yours. Do you like it?"

She shook her head. "Not whose it is _now_, but won't it be reported stolen soon?"

"No," I replied. "This was your Christmas present. It's registered under the name on your false license, so there's no way for them to track it. Hope you don't mind missing out on the surprise, but under the circumstances, it was our best option."

Her mouth dropped open. "I can't accept this. It's way too expensive!"

_Oh, Kitten, Kitten, Kitten…_ I gave an exasperated sigh. "Kitten, for once could you just say thank you? Really, luv, aren't we past this?" _**Way**__ past this?_

"Thank you. It's beautiful. All I got you was a new jacket."

"What kind of jacket?" I was intrigued, since all I ever wore was my faded denim one.

"Well, it was long, like a trench coat. Black leather, so you'd look spooky and mysterious. The police probably ransacked whatever was left of my apartment the vampires didn't destroy. It was wrapped and hidden under the loose board in the kitchen cabinet."

I took her hand and squeezed it gently. For some reason, she seemed to be crying a little. Also, I was touched. I didn't get very many presents, and she'd clearly put a lot of thought into this one.

"Switch?" she asked, changing tack.

"Shriveled in Indiana. That bugger ran at full speed for hours. Sorry I couldn't have taken my time with him, Kitten, but I wanted to head straight back to you. When I caught him, I staked him and left him to rot in the woods by Cedar Lake. With all the bodies left back at the house, one more isn't going to rock the boat. In fact, Indiana's where we're headed now."

"Why Indiana?"

"Got a mate there, Rodney, who will set you and your mum up with new identification. We'll bunk at his place tonight and leave tomorrow afternoon. Just have to run a few errands in the morning to be set. From there, we'll proceed to Ontario for a few months. We will track down those last two sods, mark my words, but we'll do it quietly once this heat over Oliver cools down. When your lads can't find a trace of you after a bit, they'll look for other fish to fry."

"How did you know when they were moving us?"

I grunted, amused. "By watching. When they cleared a path from a floor to the back exit and had armed guards waiting by a bunch of vehicles, it was obvious. I just stayed ahead of them until the timing was right."

A solid thumping noise drew our attention to the backseat. I grinned.

"Looks like your mum woke up."


	51. Chapter 51

_A/N: Ok, so I'm having a minor panic attack. I started out writing this story in Google docs, and the 1st 3 chapters of the next story were written there. But about ½ way through, I began using Word. I was trying to streamline my email accounts (I had about 5), so I closed out an account and didn't think anything about it. Now I realize that's where the chapters were stored, as well as a number of other items. I have 2 places where I MIGHT have backed them up, but I'm not holding my breath. Nevertheless, I WILL continue on, I will just have to start the next book fresh. Arg._

I lifted her mum out of the backseat, tape still over her mouth (so she couldn't bite me again, and to keep her from yammering on), and handed her off to Kitten as I introduced her to my friend and creation, Rodney. Rodney, being a ghoul, didn't bat an eye – it wasn't the first time I'd shown up at his house with people gagged.

Kitten set her mum on her feet and shook Rodney's hand as much as she could while keeping her from bolting away – not an easy feat from the way Justina was wrigggling.

"I hate to impose right off, Rodney, but where's the bathroom?"

"It's no imposition, it's on the left," he said with a smile.

Kitten hauled her with off. "Be back in a minute, Bones. I want to get her cleaned up and have a word with her."

"Take your time, luv."

They were in there a bit. I heard water running, presumably to get them cleaned up, then I heard Kitten say, "He killed the man who murdered Grandpa Joe and Grandma, Mom. He won't hurt me and he won't hurt you." _Finally, __**finally**__ she'd learned I'd never hurt a single red hair on her head. It made me even more glad the red ring was in my pocket. Now I just had to wait for the right moment – which might be difficult given what was going on right now, but I'd made more out of less before._

Then I heard her say, "I know you hate vampires and I know this will be hard, but you're going to have to listen to me for a while. Just give me a little time. You have to trust me. Our lives depend on it. We're staying here tonight, and then tomorrow we're leaving the country. It's the only way.

"Well? Are you going to be reasonable? Can I take the gag off? she asked.

"You can trust me," Kitten repeated. "I promise."

Justina must've nodded, because Kitten said, "Try to be nice when we go out."

I was seated at the dining table with Rodney. Justina gave me a good glare for my troubles, but said nothing. I supposed that, for her, that was being nice.

"Take your pick of the guest rooms, one upstairs and one in the basement," Rodney said politely.

Kitten instantly said, "Show me the one in the basement." I snickered a bit but said nothing.

"Of course, follow me."

Kitten grabbed her mum by the arm and they went down a flight of stairs to the basement. I, meanwhile, sauntered to the upstairs guest room. I could still hear everything clear as a bell, though.

I heard Kitten say, "This'll be perfect for you, Mom."

"Where do you think you're going?" Justina demanded.

"Upstairs. With Bones. Good night." I grinned in anticipation.

I heard the door slam and Rodney lock it from the outside. The pounding started immediately.

"Catherine! You can't mean to—"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, Mom, when we're alone. Tomorrow. Don't cause a fuss, you're making Rodney hungry." My grin got even larger as I heard Rodney make a low grumbling sound. I might have even chuckled a bit; I'm claiming nothing.

I heard Rodney lock the door to the stairs. "In case she's really feisty."

Kitten bounded up the stairs to me and came straight into my arms. For several minutes we just held each other.

"I told you we'd make it through the night, luv. You didn't believe me."

"No," she softly answered. "I didn't. But you were right, and both of you are alive. That's all that matters. It means more than anything to me."

"You mean more than anything to me."

I lowered my head and gently brushed my lips across hers. She wound her hands around me and pressed me to her tightly.

Soft tears were coursing silently down her cheeks. In hindsight, that should've warned me, as Kitten so rarely cried, but hindsight is 20/20. At the time, I just whispered, "Why are you crying?"

She swiped at the tears. "Because…I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you."

I gave her a soft kiss. "Nothing will happen to me, I promise."

"I want you to know that despite everything, I'm so glad I met you," she choked out. "It was the luckiest day of my life. If I hadn't, I never would have known what it was like for someone to love me, all of me, even the parts I hated. I would have gone through life empty and guilt-ridden, but you showed me a whole new world, Bones. I'll never be able to thank you for all you've done for me, but I will love you every day until I die."

"Kitten," I moaned as I drew me down onto the bed. "I only thought I was living before I met you. You'll love me until you die? That's not nearly long enough…."

_Ha! Yes I ended this chapter here. And yes, I will give you an extended scene for the next chapter. But for now, I'm making you wait…_


	52. Before We Say Goodbye

_A/N: You knew this was coming…. _

"Kitten," I moaned as I drew her down onto the bed. "I only thought I was living before I met you. You'll love me until you die? That's not nearly long enough…."

No, not nearly. I'd spent almost 250 years surrounded by people yet alone, using woman after woman to fill an empty void inside myself that I didn't realize was there until I met her. I thought I was happy, or as close to it as a vampire could get, until she showed up and I realized what I'd been missing all along. Her. And I hoped she'd be by my side for a long, long time.

I drew her onto the bed and gently began to remove her clothes, then mine. For some reason, Kitten seemed emotionally delicate tonight. I chalked it up to the fear of losing her mum, the fear of losing me, and all the things she had gone through in the past day or so.

So I was especially gently with her. I rained her face and neck with butterfly kisses. Instead of suckling her breasts hard like I usually did, I licked them and teased them with my tongue. I ran my hands gently over her body, feeling her curves and loving each one of them with my hands.

In response, she ran her hands over me like she was trying to memorize my shape. Normally when we made love, she had her head thrown back, eyes closed in pleasure. But tonight she kept them open, watching me love her with my mouth and hands.

Finally, when I reached her center, I used careful, slow licks. I gently teased her with my tongue and fingers, feeling out the places she loved best. She let me taste her, love her, for a while, then pulled me up and kissed me, tasting herself on me.

"Bones…" she drew out, "I need you. God, do I need you…"

I covered her body with my own as gently as I could, because she just seemed so fragile. I entered her slowly, relishing in her tight warmth around me, and groaned. I began to move, slowly, pulling back just a tiny bit, then a bit more, then all the way as I had done the first time we were together like this.

She moaned and her hips came up to meet mine, but tears streamed down her face. I saw them and stopped immediately.

"What's wrong, luv? Am I hurting you? Did I hurt you?"

"No," she choked out, "I'm just so damned glad we all came through the fire like you said we would. I never thought I'd get to be with you like this again. Please, don't stop… don't stop, I need you to keep going…"

So together we moved, slowly. I would rest my weight on one arm to wipe the tears from one cheek, then switch to wipe the tears from the other. Her cheeks were so soft, her lips even softer from her crying. I couldn't stop myself from kissing her again, and again, and again…

Eventually our movements became more rapid, as both of us hurdled to an inevitable conclusion. Still, we kept our eyes open, and still, she wept. Inside, I felt like weeping, too – like she said, we had come through the fire. We had further to go before we were completely out of the woods yet, but I had my Kitten, and that was all that mattered.

As we reached completion together, looking into each other's eyes, hands locked together, I wondered if maybe this was the time to give her the red diamond – ask her to be mine in every way. But, when I thought more about it, I realized I wanted to do it the next day. We would have everything we needed to start a new life, together, and I wanted her to have the choice to accept me or not. Also, I wanted her mum there to see her daughter (hopefully) accept a vampire for the rest of her life.

As Kitten drifted off to sleep, cocooning in the blankets yet again, I stroked her hair and thought, _this is bliss...  
_


	53. Chapter 53

_A/N: Here it is, the last chapter! I will continue on with the next book (even though I can't find my previously written chapters). I've had several great suggestions for titles for the next book, but I think I will just go with Temptations of the Grave, 2 – etc., so it's easier to find. I want to thank each and every reviewer, follower, and reader who favorited this story – I didn't have any clue, starting out, just how much of a challenge this would be. You've all kept me going._

One of Rodney's favorite pastimes was cooking, so pancakes and omelets greeted Kitten and her mum the next morning. Kitten had to glare her mum into eating her portion, which she did, although she looked like she would choke with each bite. It was right good fun, watching her.

I'd told Kitten the day before that Rodney and I would have to go out the next day to line up fake passports, drivers licenses, and plane tickets for us, but that it shouldn't take more than about 4 hours. Which was why I was so surprised when she launched herself at me on my way out the door. She buried her head in my neck and held onto me like she'd never see me again.

I knew she still felt a bit fragile, emotionally, so I tried to soothe her a bit. I smiled down at her, stroking her hair and asked, "What's this? Miss me before I've even left?"

She got a bit of a pained look on her face and answered, "I'll always miss you when you're gone."

I gave her another smile and bent down, giving a tender kiss to her lips. She pulled back after a moment and touched my cheek softly. "Give me your jacket," she asked.

I thought that was a bit of an odd request but took it off, raising a brow in question. "In case we have to leave and meet you," she explained. "It's cold outside."

I handed over my denim jacket and she tucked it under her arm. I gave her one last kiss, just a brush of my lips across her forehead.

"Be careful, Bones. Just please…be careful."

I smiled. "Don't fret, luv. I'll be back before you know it."

* * *

Rodney and I met our contacts and finalized our details. I tried to rush through things as fast as possible. For some reason, there was a little alarm bell going off in my head. I just had this feeling that I needed to get back to Kitten as soon as I could. I just couldn't shake it off, and had Rodney driving at breakneck speeds, even for a ghoul and a vampire.

When we got back to his house, the first thing I noticed was that the Volvo wasn't in the driveway. My brain came up with the excuse that perhaps they'd just gone out to get some supplies; maybe feminine products or such, things I wouldn't think of.

I almost ripped the door off Rodney's car and the front door off his house to get inside. He unlocked it as fast as possible and I knew, I just _knew_. Their scent was recent, but too faint. Nonetheless, I sent Rodney to check the basement, while I shot up the stairs. When I got to the upstairs bedroom and I saw the note and the watch she'd left, I threw the bed against the wall in a rage as Rodney came up the stairs behind me.

Then I sank to my knees and wept, Rodney's hand in mute comfort on my shoulder.

My Kitten, the love of my life, had left me.


End file.
